Stephen Fowler

Stephen Fowler | American Idol | Blind singer, piano player

noreply@blogger.com (Javier) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Man. I'm ashamed. I can't believe I missed it. I mean, how can I look at myself in the mirror and call myself a Stephen Fowler blogger after this? What I'm talking about is the fact that I only learned recently that Stephen Fowler, that American Idol hopeful, the one who plays the piano, well, he also just happens to be freaking blind! I can't believe I missed that piece of information. And at the same time, I'm just in awe.

I mean, fine, Stephen Fowler can play the piano and sing. Great. But play the piano and sing while not being able to actually look at the ebony and ivory keys he's pounding on, all while belting the lyrics to some song? And maybe doing all that in from of a crowd? Man, that's just awesome! I mean, really it's awesome.

I wonder how he does it. And I wonder how he'll do in American Idol. Will it be different for him? Will his performance be dampened by the fact that he has three (well actually now four) judges critically judging his vocal intonations, his pipes, and how well he pounds along on the piano? If he makes it further, will he be affected by the much larger crowds? Or by the fact that he'll be performing for America on TV, and hell, probably big chunk of the globe? Or will Stephen Fowler just be able to shrug that off and perform?

At the same time, of course, the comparisons that may be made in relation to Stephen Fowler are there, and they might prove to create expectations that might just be too much for him to reach. I mean, I can think of two other great singers who also happened to be blind, and who also happened to play the piano, and those two were (well actually are, or maybe just for one of those) legends. Maybe you can throw in one other blind singer, who doesn't play the piano, but possesses one mean tenor voice, and you have the setup for great, and maybe insurmountable expectations.

So we'll see how Stephen Fowler performs. Based on his own past performances (Will he underperform? Will he rise to the challenge and take his performances to another level?) and those of past greats he might be compared to (How will he measure up?). What I do know though is that the fact that Stephen Fowler both sings and plays the piano already earns quite a lot of respect from me. And the fact that he auditioned for American Idol, and appears to have at least made it to Hollywood also bodes well for the quality of his performance.

So again, Stephen Fowler, singer, pianist, blind fellow. Respect. The next American Idol?

Stephen Fowler

noreply@blogger.com (Javier) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:02:00 +0000

It looks like one of the American Idol contestants who's alleged to have made it to Hollywood is someone named, Stephen Fowler. I wonder what people who know him call him. Stephen? Steve? Stevie? Not much information online on this guy at all though. All I've come across is the statement that he plays the piano. Not much else. No MySpace profile. No band website. No album or mp3's available for listening to or download. Nothing. Not even an age.

It's a bit strange actually. Not used to it. Nowadays, it seems that just about anyone right now who's looking to build some sort of music career has at least a MySpace profile. I mean, MySpace actually has a special setup for artists, and there've already been examples of singers who are pretty high profile right now, and who have sort of made it, or are at least getting to that point, who got their big break mostly because they were able to build up a fan base thanks to MySpace. And well, it doesn't cost anything at all really to set one up, except of course, you need a computer and an internet connection, but that can be worked around. So what's with this guy?

I guess I could speculate. Maybe Stephen Fowler's the type of American Idol contestant who hasn't really seen a music career as his future necessarily. Maybe he already has a job, or work, or a career. Maybe he's one of those people that you work with, who goes about his job, but really blows people away during the annual karaoke or videoke bash. Or someone who sings for family and relatives, but doesn't really do actual gigs. And then maybe he thought he'd give American Idol a go anyway, since he has the pipes, and then found that he actually made it past the judges. So that would explain why he doesn't have the MySpace profile, or the band or independently produced album, and why American Idol forum people haven't heard of him at all.

Also, I guess it looks like he hasn't ever tried auditioning for American Idol before. Or at least if he has, he didn't make it past the preliminary audition stage, and his performance didn't merit even a casual mention during the audition shows. But I have a feeling that isn't what happened. I'm thinking it's probably his first time to give the American Idol show a whirl. I wonder though how far Stephen Fowler will go. Unlike some of the other contestants already mentioned, he doesn't seem to have a lot of high profile gigs and performances under his belt. But then again, maybe he does, but they just haven't been featured online.

So anyway, that's Stephen Fowler for you. Watch out for him and his piano playing skills.

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noreply@blogger.com (Javier) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 03:58:00 +0000

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