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Johnny with Bryan Lenox

Johnny Keyser with Grammy Award winning producer Bryan Lenox

In the fall of 2011 Johnny Keyser found himself riding an unprecedented wave in the history of music television. Due to his stunning performance of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” before the celebrity trio of Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson, the producers of American Idol chose to build a full blown season-long ad campaign around the amazingly soulful voice and blue-eyed good looks of the All-American boy.  Before the new season even began, Johnny’s voice and personality had been beamed around the globe to hundreds of millions of viewers in nearly every nation. In the first commercial of the campaign, Lopez said the words that will not soon be forgotten by exhorting “You know you’re going to be a Star, right?!” Then came the most memorable of the commercials, as it consisted of nothing more than dramatic American Idol graphics, beautiful clips of Johnny gutting out his soulful tones, and the celebrity judges cooing the now well-branded slogan, “Keep Singing!”

As the commercial campaign flooded prime-time television and NFL games and just about anywhere else commercials run, Johnny quickly became one of the most recognizable unknown men in America. And when the actual audition and interviews finally aired, the major media responded with equal praise for Keyser’s tone-rich voice and athletic good looks. Entertainment Weekly wrote “Doesn’t he know he’s a star? Recognize your destiny, boy!“ Rolling Stone wrote “he is as good as a white kid singing a soul classic can be.” People Magazine wrote the “‘heartthrob-in-the-making’ from Florida amazed the judges with his charm and stirring performance.” MTV.com wrote “American Idol finds their crooner in Johnny Keyser.“ 

The internet blew up with press and chatter about the apparent future star, and it seemed the hype had just begun. When Johnny finally took the stage during the infamous Hollywood rounds, he was already the public favorite to win it all, and when he delivered a perfectly original a’capella version of Amos Lee’s Dreamin’, Rolling Stone wrote “The whiteboy with the soul of a soulful white guy with a soul patch once again impresses” while PopCrush writer Amy Sciarto wrote “He looks good and sounds better… He’s the total package.” But when the show moved to the Las Vegas round, the  ”chisel-cheeked [Johnny] was unceremoniously voted off” (The Atlantic Wire), the media responded with shock, and the blogs turned violent. Rolling Stone wrote, “Most surprising elimination? The much touted and featured-in-every-promo Johnny Keyser is out.” And E! Online wrote “We know, we’re shocked too!” Ahhh… but the plot thickened. 

A full two rounds later, Keyser again found himself in an unprecedented role in American Idol history when he was re-introduced as a possible wildcard to rejoin the finalists in the rounds where the public would finally be able to vote. The Huffington Post wrote “‘Idol‘ producers apparently took note of us all being so confused by pretty boy Johnny Keyser’s Vegas elimination, they’re inexplicably adding a 13th male contestant to next Tuesday’s live show.” But when Keyser was again erased from the script, conspiracy theories blew up the internet, and even The Hollywood Reporter wrote “Chatter among Idol fans and pundits had pointed to Johnny Keyser as the more likely second-chancer…  he had the looks, an athlete’s body and a good voice. You might call that a winning combination.“ 

To this date no one knows why Johnny was released, least of all Johnny himself, but the prevailing theory on the blogs is that the producers were hoping to avoid another good-looking white male winning their show for a FIFTH year in a row… let alone as a runaway victor. Whatever the case, you can rest assured that nothing in his past or present contributed to his dismissal from the cast, nor was his work ethic or character ever in question. The All-American boy is just that… a fourth generation musician from a solid family… a four sport all-star athlete from a reputable Christian Academy in the deep south… a Marketing major at the University of Central Florida working his way through school as a server at Carrabbas Italian Restaurant (not an easy job to land). Through it all, Johnny has been undaunted yet humble, and has nothing but gratitude and grace for the producers and celebrity judges for speaking tremendous destiny into him while sharing his voice with the world. 

Within a few days of his final release from the season 11 American Idol cast, music industry professionals from all corners came knocking, so Johnny quickly moved to Nashville to begin an intense talent development regimen which included co-writing sessions with singer/songwriter/recording-artist and good friend Amber Caparas, a fellow IDOL alum. After several weeks of writing and performing in the Nashville listening room circuit, Johnny was contacted by Grammy Award winning producer Bryan Lenox, and a few short weeks later the 7 track EP “From Where I Stand” was born. 
To be continued…

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