Victor Solomon entered a large room and walked across the floor until he reached the middle. He stopped and planted his feet firmly on the words “American Idol.”
Several feet in front of him sat three music industry superstars: Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan.
The 26-year-old from Peoria, Illinois, mostly had his eyes on Richie as he took his shot and auditioned for “American Idol.”
For his big moment, Solomon had made the bold choice to perform Richie’s No. 1 hit “Hello.”
Although he did his best to stay focused as he sang the 1980s power ballad, he couldn’t help but glance over every so often to watch the real-time reactions of the man who brought that song to life.
After Solomon sang the second line of the song, Richie softly uttered “Come on” with a slight smile that widened as the performance continued. By the time “Hello” was over, Solomon had a standing ovation from the song’s singer and writer.
“I think internally, I really just started crying,” Solomon recently told the Deseret News. “The moment I opened my mouth, I just saw his reaction, and then it just brought forth even more emotions.”
It was pretty surreal for Solomon to perform his own rendition of “Hello” in front of Richie — despite the fact that it wasn’t the first time he’d experienced a moment like it.
Four years earlier, Solomon had made an impressive run on “The Voice” that started with a performance of John Legend’s “Glory” in front of Legend, who was a coach on the show at the time.
The strategy paid off then — Solomon joined Legend’s team and made it all the way to the season finale, where he ultimately placed fifth. The strategy also seems to be working today: Solomon is currently in the “American Idol” top 24.
Now, though, as he sings his heart out on “Idol,” Solomon says he’s more nervous than he ever was on “The Voice.”
But he’s also returning to the spotlight with a little more wisdom when it comes to navigating a reality competition show — and the challenges of maintaining the momentum once the show is over.
After ‘The Voice’
Solomon never thought he’d do another singing competition after “The Voice,” in part because he figured it would be hard to top what he did the first time around.
The singer called being a “Voice” finalist an “amazing accomplishment,” and said he remains especially proud of his first and last performances in the Season 20 competition. Legend called his finale performance, a rendition of Beyonce’s “Freedom,” the “best performance” he’d ever seen on the show.
Since his time on “The Voice,” Solomon has done a lot of traveling, performing in places like Budapest and the Cayman Islands. Two years ago, he relocated to Los Angeles to continue pursuing a music career.
While music is his focus, he also works at Chick-fil-A as a director of talent and training, and he’s a worship leader at his church in the Los Angeles area. Both of those roles provide him the flexibility to travel and perform, he said.
“Just staying busy, and, you know, trying to keep some money coming in,” Solomon said with a laugh.
It’s a lot to balance, but it’s also a necessary juggling act.
The singer has learned firsthand what a roller coaster maintaining success in the music industry can be — especially after riding the highs of a show like “The Voice.”
“You go from millions of viewers like every week and then all of a sudden … I don’t want to say nobody’s watching, you have your followers, but it’s nowhere near close to 6 million viewers every week,” Solomon said.
“That’s the work that comes with it, you know, keeping your name alive, keeping your presence alive, and keeping your music alive,” he continued. “With the momentum that I had after ‘The Voice,’ it was great momentum, but I let it die down, unfortunately.”
So when a casting producer from “Idol” came calling, nudging him to audition, Solomon surprised himself as he considered going on a second reality competition show.
Although it’s not something he initially thought he’d do, the timing was good. He’d been working on some new music with his sights set on releasing an album soon. Going on “Idol” could serve as a “marketing tactic” of sorts, he figured, helping him gain more followers and build a stronger fanbase as he seeks to move his career forward.
But as Solomon has advanced through the rounds on “Idol,” being on the show has been about a lot more than strategy. It’s also been a chance for him to make new friends and share his faith.
And along the way, there have been moments that have validatee his pursuit of a music career, encouraging him to stay the course as he navigates the ups and downs of the business.
Going on ‘American Idol’
On “Idol,” the validation came early.
Solomon had initially planned on auditioning with Donny Hathaway’s “A Song For You,” but later decided to draw a parallel to his time on “The Voice” by singing a song from one of the “Idol” judges.
It took a while for Solomon to land on an arrangement of “Hello” that suited his own voice — he actually had to perform the song in a lower key. He also knew going in that it wouldn’t be in his best interest to simply imitate Richie.
“I know just from my doing research, that Lionel Richie loves when the artists make these songs their own,” Solomon said. “So that was my assignment there.”
Following Solomon’s audition, Richie declared that he could see the singer making it to the top 20 in the competition — a prediction the “Idol” judges don’t make lightly.
But for Solomon, some of the best validation he has received has come from viewers at home.
During Hollywood Week on “Idol,” Solomon took somewhat of a stylistic departure to perform an energetic rendition of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” that had all three judges on their feet.
The performance — which Solomon says was his idea — seemed to surprise the show’s judges and viewers in the best possible way.
”The main thing for me this season was to be unpredictable. I wanted to have fun,“ Solomon said. ”And then just the lyrics of the song: ‘I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,’ like, that’s exactly where I am. I’ve been waiting for this moment where it’s another breakthrough, it’s another moment in my career that is pivotal for me. So that’s ultimately where that came from.”
After that performance, Solomon says he got a phone call from a co-worker who said she used to hate “In the Air Tonight” because it reminded her of her father’s passing. But his rendition of the song, she told him, changed that for her.
“That’s what it’s about for me, is having that positive influence on people in the world,” Solomon said. “To continue to spread love and joy.”
‘We’ll see what God does’
Compared to “The Voice,” eliminations on “Idol” happen at a faster pace, Solomon said.
More than half of the competition gets cut fairly early on, and the singer said he’s watched “amazing talents” go home.
But through the stress and nerves of it all, there has also been a lot of positivity, encouragement and faith shared among the contestants, he said.
Solomon ended up rooming with fellow “Voice” finalist Thunderstorm Artis during Hollywood Week, and the two bonded over competing on both shows — and took a picture together to send to John Legend.
“Idol” contestant Rylie O’Neill recently shared a video on Instagram that showed several of her fellow competitors, including Solomon, singing worship music together backstage.
Faith has held a prominent place in the spotlight this season as a number of contestants have performed gospel music.
“To spread the love of Jesus Christ, and also to draw people closer to Him and just influence people to have wonderful moments, that’s what it’s all about,” Solomon said.
“Sticking to His word has been the mantra of my time here, keeping him first in everything, and making sure that when I wake up in the morning, before I look at an email, before I look at my phone, make sure I thank him. Make sure I glorify Him. Make sure I honor Him for waking me up this morning.”
The eliminations on “Idol” keep coming — the top 24 will be whittled down to a top 14 in just a little over a week. Now, the fate of the contestants is in the hands of viewers at home, which Solomon said is “nerve wracking.”
He knows there’s always a chance he could go home earlier than he did on “The Voice,” and that does make him nervous. But he’s doing his best to not draw comparisons and to just live in the moment.
This time around, when it’s all over, he’s going to do everything he can to maintain the momentum.
“Coming back, I now know what to expect after the show, to have things lined up, have things ready to stay on the ride, and to continue to hold on,” he said. “But so far so good. We’re still in the competition, and we are having fun. … So we’ll see what God does.”