Woodlands resident made it to Hollywood round on American Idol, eyes future opportunities

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Woodlands resident and College Park graduate Cameron Concepcion recently returned from an epic journey that pushed him to his artistic limits. Cameron was recently one of the special few from selected from hundreds of thousands of singers and performers to be invited to the ‘Hollywood Round’ of the still-hot television series American Idol, now in its 23rd season (its 8th season on ABC after 15 seasons on FOX).

For those unfamiliar with the show, the first five episodes or so chart the journey of the judges – Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan – traveling from town to town to audition hopeful singers looking for stardom. These city-level auditions have high standards, with only between 10 - 50 on average being offered the ‘Golden Ticket’ to come to Hollywood for the next round. From there, the list of performers is culled down approximately 80 percent, who then go onto the live weekly rounds until only one is left.

Cameron was excited to have been told ‘yes’ by all three judges with his audition in New York City, earning him his own Golden Ticket and making it to the Top 144 out of tens of thousands of people.

Though the Hollywood Round has only been aired over the past few weeks, this is old news to Cameron; his fantastic journey, which ended last week as far as the public is concerned, took place starting last late summer.

“Many of my friends, family members, and supporters have told me for years to try out for a reality / music singing competition. I was late-night scrolling on Instagram when an American Idol open call advertisement came across my screen. I didn't give it much thought and made the spontaneous decision to sign up and meet with the producers of the show. The next week, I hopped on a Zoom call, and I sang my way through two rounds of auditions while playing the piano,” Cameron told Woodlands Online.

“The executive producers saw enormous potential in me, and they told me right then and there that I was going to New York City to audition in front of the celebrity judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan. A few months later, my family and I flew out to the ‘Big Apple,’ and I left with three yeses and a golden ticket to Hollywood after singing and playing ‘Cold’ by Chris Stapleton.”

Cameron kicked off the first month of the new year competing in Hollywood Week Round One, in a venue called Idol Arena. Every person who secured a golden ticket had a small amount of time to show off their vocal talent to the celebrity judges. Although all the contestants became very close, more than half of the contestants were cut. At this stage of the competition, Cameron was one of them.

“Unfortunately, I did not move forward to the next round, but my Idol journey will always be an unforgettable one,” he told Woodlands Online. “I met many people who had the same dreams I did, but most importantly, I got to see my all-time dream of securing a golden ticket come to fruition. And, out of the tens of thousands that auditioned to be on the show, I’m so happy to have secured a spot in the Top 144.”

Cameron was born in Houston in April of 2003. He was raised in The Woodlands from the age of five, and was a student in the Conroe Independent School District all through grade school and graduation from The Woodlands College Park High School in 2022. He discovered his passion to sing when I was five years old; at the age of ten, that passion went a step further when he taught himself how to play the piano using his perfect-pitch ability, which only one in ten thousand people within the general population have.

For the past three years, he has been employed at the Sarah Kelly Music School in The Woodlands as a music teacher. Outside of his ‘day career,’ he is an independent musician and books his own gigs at all four country clubs in The Woodlands and at other local restaurants and private events.

“Additionally, I write my own original music. Speaking of which, I put out my debut single, ‘Drivin’,’ on all music platforms. I do music day to day, but I'm extremely passionate about it,” he told Woodlands Online.

As for Cameron’s relatively short but profoundly impactful time spent on his American Idol journey, he seems to have no regrets.

“This was a dream come true, and I’m glad I got to experience it with my family. Go Conroe and The Woodlands!”

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