When Mor Ilderton auditioned for “The Voice” nearly a year and a half ago, coach Michael Bublé was so intent on getting the singer from West Virginia on his team that he joked he would name him after his fifth child, who had been born that morning.
“I love that ‘The Voice’ gets to have somebody as unique as you,” Bublé told Ilderton, as the Deseret News reported at the time.
But the singer, who impressed all of the coaches with his distinct voice, didn’t stay on the show for long.
After the second round, Ilderton unexpectedly dropped out of the competition.
He didn’t directly address his abrupt departure. But shortly after leaving “The Voice,” he started promoting his own music on social media.
Now, his original music is reaching a wider audience.
Earlier this week, the 22-year-old singer returned to the reality competition world — this time to audition for “American Idol.”
Mor Ilderton auditions for ‘American Idol’
In a departure from his time on “The Voice,” Ilderton brought an original song to the “American Idol” stage.
He was visibly emotional as he introduced “Strong” to “American Idol” judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan. The song was born out of a family tragedy.
“My dad ended my mom’s life,” said Ilderton, who has been raised by his grandmother since he was 2 years old. “It’s about seeing my mom’s picture for the first time and not knowing her, and just kind of looking at a stranger and just pouring out my emotions of that through this song.”
Ilderton was a little shaken up as he started strumming his guitar and had to stop.
“Take your time,” Richie said.
After a few seconds and a deep breath, the 22-year-old started up again and gave a performance that received a standing ovation from all three judges.
“I feel like you went somewhere else when you were singing,” Underwood said. “It’s like we weren’t here — in a good way."
“As unnerved as you may feel, I loved your delivery, I loved the timbre of your voice, and more importantly, that writing was very cool,” Richie added. “I mean that.”
“That means the world to me,” Ilderton responded.
It was an easy decision for the judges to send the singer-songwriter to the next round of the “Idol” competition. But before they revealed their decision, the judges surprised Ilderton by bringing in his grandmother — who hadn’t been on a plane in more than 25 years.
Ilderton’s grandmother, Sandy — who the singer described as his “rock” — had initially told her grandson she wouldn’t be able to come out for his audition.
“I just think that it was important to him. ... And I think I really want to be there for him,” she told “Idol” producers through tears.
“We want to applaud you for stepping up and raising him,” Bryan told her.
Ilderton will next appear in the Hollywood Week round of the competition, which begins Feb. 23.
A look at Mor Ilderton’s audition for ‘The Voice’
Ilderton’s time on “American Idol” comes roughly a year and a half after making a strong impression on “The Voice.”
His “Voice” audition actually marked his first time performing — something that shocked all of the coaches.
After performing Dylan Gossett’s “Coal” for his blind audition — which has 1 million views on YouTube — the folky singer had his pick between coaches Bublé and Snoop Dogg (Reba McEntire also turned around but was blocked by Bublé).
Ilderton ended up choosing Bublé, though his time on the singer’s team was short-lived.
During the Battle round — which featured him performing a duet of the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” with fellow Team Bublé singer Kiara Vega — he almost faced elimination before Gwen Stefani chose to steal him for her team.
“There’s the voice and then there’s people that are just artists,” she said. “You’re just very unique, so I was just really drawn to that uniqueness that you have.”
But Ilderton didn’t get much time with Stefani as his coach, either.
Ahead of the Knockout round, which would’ve marked his first performance as a singer on Stefani’s team, “The Voice” said Ilderton “had to go home.”
After ‘The Voice’
“The Voice” didn’t draw much attention to Ilderton’s abrupt exit from the show.
But the singer was active on social media, sharing new music and performing as a guest artist on a Christmas tour with Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. — the Season 6 winner of “America’s Got Talent,” the Deseret News previously reported.
During his time on “The Voice” and on social media, the West Virginia-based singer has also been vocal about his Christian faith — and how it inspires his music and songwriting process.
“Before all this voice stuff happened I was actively trying to get back into faith and build my relationship with Christ,” he wrote. “This journey has been a blessing so far and sometimes I feel like I’m not good at just talking to God so I use music. I feel like music has helped me with my relationship tremendously just because when I write for him the songs are so much more meaningful to me and it just explains my journey.”