Sam Finelli, who is diagnosed with autism, moved judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan to tears during his audition on "American Idol."
The 28-year-old performed a rendition of "Rainbow" by Kacey Musgraves on Sunday's episode of "American Idol" that earned him a "yes" from all three judges to move to the next round in the singing competition.
Finelli's mother shared that her son was diagnosed with "high-functioning" autism. "He has struggled at an early age," she said.
Finelli says that he doesn't like to talk about it but that he was always "different as a kid."
"It's just a small part of who I am," he said. "It's not all of who I am. So it was lonely growing up, but music was like my best friend."
"You have three judges giving you a standing ovation," Richie said after Finelli's performance. "I want you to know right now we are so proud of you."
Finelli tearfully thanked them and shared that he was originally afraid to audition.
I hope I am wrong but I see a lot of inspiration porn.
_________________ Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013 DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
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Joined: 2 May 2019 Age: 28 Gender: Male Posts: 679 Location: Mid-Atlantic USA
15 Mar 2022, 12:09 pm
Sounds super inspiration-porny to me as well. He isn’t actually the first openly-autistic contestant on the show. James Durbin, who came in 4th place in one of the earlier seasons about a decade ago, was also open about it, but if my memory serves me correctly he didn’t make a huge deal of it or use it as inspiration porn.
_________________ When anti-vaxxers get in my face, I say ... Have a Nice Day!
15 Mar 2022, 10:09 am
