“American Idol,” 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, Fox.
As one of the top 12 male vocalists left on “American Idol,” Vancouver’s Daniel Seavey is the youngest person to make it this far in the televised singing competition.
“It feels really good that I’ve already accomplished something without winning,” the 15-year-old said in an interview with The Columbian on Tuesday between rehearsals.
Seavey, a student at Union High School, will perform during his first live broadcast tonight, and he said the preparation for this week’s show includes a grueling six hours of rehearsals daily.
“It’s really long days, but it’s worth it,” he said.
The show kicks into high gear this week, with the expected elimination of four male contestants on Wednesday and four female contestants on Thursday.
Seavey said that the only thing he can reveal about his upcoming performance is that he won’t have his guitar and that he’ll be dancing around the stage.
Whether he stays or goes, Seavey said he’s happy to have accomplished so much. He’s been approached about potential acting gigs and record deals, he said.
“I want to perform as a career for the rest of life,” he said. “Whatever happens, this has helped my future.”
He said he remembers looking at pictures of celebrities on Instagram who had 20,000 followers.
“I thought, that would never be me,” he said. “I checked my Instagram and I’m at 40,000 followers … It’s kind of surreal.”
He also has gained more than 18,000 followers on Twitter (@SeaveyDaniel) and has more than 4,000 fans on his Facebook page.
But the fans who are most supportive, he said, are the ones back home.
Earlier in the season, producers advised Seavey to reference that he was from Portland to avoid confusion with the Canadian city of Vancouver, B.C. However, he recently had producers make the change to show that he’s from Vancouver.
And it’s obvious his hometown is proud of him.
“I get about 50 texts a day saying ‘good luck,’ and ‘we miss you,'” he said. “Union High School is probably the most supportive school. … They hold an ‘American Idol’ night at the gym and watch it all together.”
With a couple of shows already under his belt, Seavey said that he’s still a little nervous to play to a bigger audience. At the same time, he said he feels more comfortable in the spotlight.
“I’m feeling so good going forward,” he said. “I feel like in the past performances I’ve done, I’ve held onto thoughts of messing up or whatever. This time, I’m not going to care. I’ve already made it this far — why not just give it your all?”
