Former American Idol contestant Sam Woolf is a lot different than other kids his age. Instead of attending college classes or working a part time job at Subway, the eighteen year old had the guts (and lungs) to try out for American Idol. He made it past the grueling auditions, lasted quite some time on the show, and as a result, is currently on the American Idol Live tour.
And so far, he likes it. "It's good, we have a lot of fun," Woolf told us on a recent phone call. "We've been exploring each city, meeting the fans. Tour life is way easier than I thought it would be. It's easier than the show. You're not being judged like on the show."
Woolf decided to try out when he was doing a program at Boston's Berklee College of Music. "I decided to audition that day," the teen explained, admitting that he'd "always wanted to do it." From there, Woolf made it into the top five best singers of the thirteenth season of the show.
Woolf has been handling fame pretty well, calling it "cool" and admitting it's "nice being recognized." But he also said that, "it's overwhelming sometimes."
Woolf's laid back demeanor stayed intact when brought up his elimination from the show. Instead of the traditional vote 'em off manner, the singers were asked to either keep all five contestants or get rid of one -- but they could only all stay if their votes were unanimous. They weren't, so Woolf hit the road. He felt "weird" about it, but, "I'm fine the way it happened. Either way, I would have gone home. I don't think it should've been a switch. They threw it on us on the show. It was stressing us out." When questioned on whether this different form of elimination changed the way look he looked at the challenge, he replied, "a little, but overall, it was a great experience. There's always going to be things you don't like [about the show], but you just gotta go with it."
He's got no hard feelings. In fact, the singer may be moving to Nashville with former contestant Alex Preston as a roommate. "American Idol is like a family," Woolf posited.
The singer-songwriter describes his sound as indie, folk, and acoustic with influences stemming from John Mayer and David Grey. As for his inspiration? "Personal experiences or seeing something someone else went through, whatever comes to my head," he said. Catch this young performer at Broward Center as part of American Idol Live this Saturday.
American Idol Live, 8 p.m., Saturday, July 19, in the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center of the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $50.50 to $90.50, with Club Level tickets available for $145.50. Visit browardcenter.org.
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