John Bassat Stevens IV (born July 28, 1987) is a university student and former American classic pop singer and was the sixth-place finalist on the third season of the television series American Idol.
Biography[]
Stevens was born in Buffalo, New York and his permanent residence is in nearby East Amherst. He attended Williamsville East High School and sang in a select jazz group. He auditioned for American Idol in New York City, singing That's Amore as an impersonation of Dean Martin. After the judges asked him to sing in his normal voice; he then performed The Way You Look Tonight and was put through to the next round.
Stevens was a member of the fourth group of semifinalists. He finished first in the voting among his group of eight semifinalists, earning 28% of the vote. At 16, he was the youngest contestant ever to make the finals on American Idol.
Stevens' favorite singer is Frank Sinatra, to whom his vocal style has been compared. He has also earned the nickname "Teen Martin" because of his Dean Martin impersonation and ability to croon at such a young age. Stevens' style was not typical Idol fare, causing him to struggle with unfamiliar genres during the competition.
For “Country Week”, Stevens sang King of the Road. During “Elton John Week”, he performed Crocodile Rock.
The last week in April 2004 was "Latin Week", a tribute to the music of Gloria Estefan. Stevens performed Music of My Heart, and Simon Cowell credited Stevens with "taking every bullet thrown at you like a man." The next day, Stevens was voted off the show, coming in sixth place despite receiving over four million votes.
Stevens was signed to Maverick Records and released his debut album Red on June 28, 2005. It was produced by Steve Tyrell and executive produced by David Foster. It features covers of The Beatles' "Here, There and Everywhere" and Maroon 5's "This Love", both arranged and performed in a relaxed jazz/lounge style. Its first week sales put it into the top 10 of the Billboard jazz charts. It sold 18,000 copies as of March 2006. He has made the decision to leave Maverick Records and is currently a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.