Cortez Shaw (born December 8th, 1990)[1] was a contestant on Season 11 and Season 12 of American Idol.
Season 11 Audition[]
Cortez auditioned in Galveston. He sang "Someone Like You" by Adele. All three judges voted "yes", sending him to the next round.
Season 11 Hollywood Round[]
Cortez's stay in Hollywood was not shown much, but it is presumed that he was eliminated sometime whilst there.
Season 12 Audition[]
Cortez's audition was not televised, but a flashback showed that he auditioned in Oklahoma City.
Season 12 Hollywood Round[]
Cortez was shown in the first part of Hollywood Week, singing "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston. Though his performance split the judging panel, he was given a second chance and advanced. He was later shown in a group called "Young Love" with Zach Birnbaum, Nate Tao and Elijah Liu singing "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Soul Brothers Six. Everyone in the group advanced and for his final solo performance, he sang "Sunny" by Bobby Hebb. He advanced along with Devin Velez, Gurpreet Singh Sarin, Devan Jones and Adam Sanders. He eventually did enough to advance to the Top 20 Guys.
Top 40[]
Cortez appeared in Male Group 2 sang "Titanium" by David Guetta, ft. Sia. Afterwards, the judges told him he did enough to become a semifinalist.
Top 20[]
Cortez sang "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars. He did not manage to place among the five highest voted male contestants, eliminating him from the competition.
| Season 12 |
| Finalists |
| ·Candice Glover ·Kree Harrison ·Angie Miller ·Amber Holcomb ·Janelle Arthur ·Lazaro Arbos ·Burnell Taylor ·Devin Velez ·Paul Jolley ·Curtis Finch, Jr. |
| Semifinalists |
| ·Aubrey Cleland ·Charlie Askew — ·Nick Boddington ·Zoanette Johnson ·Adriana Latonio ·Elijah Liu ·Vincent Powell ·Cortez Shaw ·Breanna Steer ·Tenna Torres |
| Quarterfinalists |
| ·Melinda Ademi ·Juliana Chahayed ·Cristabel Clack ·Rachel Hale ·Kevin Harris ·Jett Hermano ·Josh Holiday ·Brandy Hotard ·Isabelle ·JDA ·Johnny Keyser ·Kamaria Ousley ·Gurpreet Singh Sarin ·Jimmy Smith ·Bryant Tadeo ·Mathenee Treco ·Shubha Vedula ·Chris Watson ·David Oliver Willis ·Jenny Beth Willis |