Henry Smith

Season 10 - Road To Hollywood
Henry Smith
Although Henry Smith didn't make it through auditions in three hometowns, he found success on MySpace. He's lived around the world and was glad to see Ruben Studdard win during Season 2. - American Idol

Death-row prison guard Henry Smith knows a thing or two about reprieves. Smith, who sang last night on "American Idol" -- in the second round of "Hollywood Week" -- made it onto the show after four tryouts: New Jersey, San Francisco, Los Angeles and, finally, a winning MySpace audition. Smith, 27, who works at the Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, Conn. -- and lives in Ellington -- told The Hartford Courant that he didn't get past a producer in his first tryout, in New Jersey. But, undaunted, he flew to San Francisco, where he waited for two days and was cut because the song he sang "wasn't cleared for TV," he said. Encouraged by other wannabes, he then flew to the LA tryouts, where he didn't make it past the first round. He then submitted his MySpace audition and sang before show judges Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez -- who sent him to Hollywood. He was even paired with another correctional officer who works on death row in Texas, according to the Courant article. "They were following us all the time with cameras," he said. And, he remains optimistic despite the chance he'll get booted from the show. "Even if this thing doesn't work out, I want to keep fighting to have it work out," he told the Courant. "It's what I want to do." - NY Post

"HartfordCourant"From Death Row to 'American Idol'

From Death Row to 'American Idol' By Roger Catlin on February 15, 2011 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) As a golden ticket-holding contestant on "American Idol," heading into round two of Hollywood Week tonight, Connecticut's Henry Smith knows a thing or two about reality show clichés like "do or die" and "sudden death." Smith, 27, of Ellington, is a corrections officer at the Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, working on death row. Singing has been his main goal, he says in an interview. "I've been chasing my dreams right out of college. But it's a great job and I've stuck with it." The only state contestant in "American Idol," Smith has had to take some time off to chase his dream on TV's No. 1 show. And while his road to the 10th season of competition began with a statewide win and regional notoriety last summer, leading to a limo ride directly to New Jersey, it's been something of a bumpy road ever since. Born in Germany with roots in West Africa, Smith is used to winning regional competitions for his voice, taking the UMass Idol contest twice and doing well in the "Connecticut Idol" competition in 2005 and in August, when he won the whole thing. But a limo ride to the Jersey auditions led to a quick rejection before the first set of producers. "One moment I was riding in the limo, past 10,000 waiting in line to be one of the first to audition, and then I went home so quickly." He tried his standby soul version of "Silent Night" along with a Boyz II Men song, he says, "and the guy was just not feeling it." The rejection didn't stop him. "I thought: I can't go down like that. Whenever I do something, I see it to the end," he says. So he took money he had been saving for a camcorder to fly himself out to the auditions in San Francisco. There, he had to wait among thousands of contestants to sing, waited for two days, but when he did, he made it through a couple of rounds but was cut just before he'd sing before the TV judges. "The song I was singing wasn't cleared for TV," he says. He was encouraged by others he met there, however, to keep trying, so he bought a ticket to the Los Angeles auditions. In that case he had to sleep in his rented car two days before he had a chance to sing. "I didn't make it past the first round," he says. "After that I was like, 'I'm done with "Idol." I'm not doing it again." Then he heard they were soliciting auditions on MySpace. He figured, what the heck and taped himself singing one of the 40 songs he could choose from and forgot about it. "Then one night, I did a 16-hour shift, driving home at 11:30 p.m., looking at my phone, and it said congratulations, you have been awarded another chance to perform in front of judges. If they like it, you can go to Hollywood week." It was great he says, but he also thought: "All this money I spent flying to auditions, I could have done it on my own online from the start." Out of the thousands that tried out online, Smith was one of 300 invited to sing again, and was in the group of less than a dozen that sang before the actual TV judges. By then he changed his approach a bit, instead of "Silent Night," he went for soulful versions of rock classics, something that would certainly standout before new judge Steven Tyler. Smith did a version of Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild," as "rock 'n' roll and R&B with a little beat box on the side, and they loved it." The only he advice he got from Tyler and the other judges Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson was to smile more on stage. With that, he got the vaunted golden ticket to Hollywood week. For the first round of Hollywood week, he tried on Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" which went over well with the judges and the 317 other contestants on hand. "It was the first time the crowd gave a standing ovation that day," Smith says. "The judged were amazed by the way I sang it." Even so, he's scarcely been on TV as yet. When they mentioned the MySpace auditions, - Hartford Courant

By SHARMA HOWARD Norwich Bulletin Posted Jul 26, 2010 @ 11:32 PM Last update Jul 27, 2010 @ 12:17 AM Montville, Conn. — The contestants reached as far back as Frankie Valli and as far forward as Lady Gaga, but for the six judges at the Connecticut American Idol audition Monday, it wasn’t the period or genre that determined the winner. Rather, it was the voice, stage presence and overall performance for which Henry Smith, of Ellington, earned the title of Connecticut Idol during his audition at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret Theatre. More than 150 singers tried out, some waiting hours for a chance to win a round-trip limousine ride to an audition for the popular FOX reality TV show Aug. 3 in New Jersey. The winner also gains the enviable position of being first in line among a sea of faces, as well as an audition in front of an Idol producer. Smith won the ride and audition on Monday, but the rest of the Idol process, which can culminate in the life-changing moment where singers face the judges who determine if they will compete in 2010 American Idol, is up to him. If those auditioning at Mohegan Sun felt relief at the prospect of not standing in front of the sharp-tongued Simon Cowell, they didn’t say so. In fact, many said they were disappointed Cowell left the show. “He’s hard,” agreed Mollie Seifert, 17, of Ledyard. “But he’s very good at critiquing - he doesn’t beat around the bush, he doesn’t lie.” “He’s very forthright,” Trevor May, 20, of Pomfret, said. “I regret he’s not on anymore. I would have wanted that constructive criticism.” But Monday was more about applauding the fact that young singers had the gumption to go on stage — with the crowd breaking into applause after someone’s song, or providing a rhythm during a solo with claps to buoy the singer along. 2nd chance Those auditioning Monday still have a shot at becoming the next American Idol if they attend the Aug. 3 audition in New Jersey — they will just have to try again with the masses. A love of singing seemed to be the unifying element of the Connecticut crowd. “I just love to sing,” said Candee Garcia, 25, of Dayville. “I’ve always watched the show and always wanted it to be me. It’s hard to get somewhere in life. It’s great that Idol gives people a chance.” - Norwich Bulletin