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Tadeo takes another shot at ‘Idol’

BY GARY CHUN / gchun@staradvertiser.com

A Hilo native is in the running to be the next “American Idol” as Bryant Tadeo hopes to make his way deep into the 12th season’s competition.

Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 6 and 7, at 7 p.m. on KHON/Fox, Tadeo (23, pronounced TAH-day-oh) and the rest of the male audition winners will attempt to re-impress celebrity judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban during the intense rounds held in Hollywood. (The women will be up the following week, with the overall top 40 revealed on Feb. 14.)

This is Tadeo’s second consecutive attempt at “American Idol.”

“I was eliminated after the solo round in the middle of Hollywood Week last year, so I was pretty devastated afterwards,” he said by phone Tuesday.

He picked himself up by first returning to Hilo, “entering any competitions that I felt would help me be a stronger singer,” and then relocated to Las Vegas.

“It’s been almost six months since the move. I have family and cousins there, and I wanted to get a fresh start and be closer to opportunities to find work as a singer. The timing was perfect to do ‘American Idol’ again.”

At last season’s audition in San Diego, Tadeo advanced by singing Bryan Adams’ “Heaven.” This season at the Long Beach audition on the Queen Mary, Tadeo opted for the gospel-flavored “Up to the Mountain,” originally sung by Patty Griffin.

“Both songs are slow-paced ballads, with lots of soul and emotion. I knew I did really well with the Griffin song because it was an unanimous decision by the judges for me to move on.”

The 2007 Waiakea High School graduate said he’s not gone through any vocal training, his oldest sister Chrystal originally being the musical one in the family. (Along with younger brother Nicholas, they are the children of Celso and Maria Tadeo, with much of the extended family Hawaii island residents as well.)

Tadeo hopes to develop a career as a R&B singer.

“John Legend has definitely been an influence on me, as well as older guys like Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder.

“This year, I wanted to prove to myself that I can do this. After last year’s elimination, I came to the realization of how bad I really wanted it, to take on Hollywood one more time and show what I got,” he said.