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E-mail This StoryOn one of the highest rated shows in U.S. television history, America makes the ultimate decision on who will be this years American Idol.
On Tuesday night, supporters of Jason Castro, a 2005 graduate of Rowlett High School, gathered at Family Cathedral of Praise Church in Mesquite to demonstrate that they have already decided Jason is their idol.
“We decided to have the event in Mesquite to show Jason how much support he has here,” said Laurie Tramel-Alvarez, who along with Samantha Krantz organized the watch party on the occasion of Castro’s 21st birthday.
The crowd in attendance was ready to cheer on Castro as soon as the opening for the show began. A resounding cheer erupted when it was Castro’s time to perform.
This week’s theme was “songs from the year you were born” and Castro decided to perform “Fragile” by Sting. His performance wasn’t without criticism, though, as Simon Cowell didn’t feel Castro was taking the contest as seriously as he should be. He said Castro had the potential to be the champion. The crowd voiced their displeasure with Simon’s first assessment.
“This is the heart and soul to him,” said Carol McMillan, a family friend.
“He is staying true to who he is,” said Annette Wikander, a family friend of more than five years.
Castro is admired by the people who know him. They refer to him as a good, honest person who gives back to the community. Castro has been involved in several mission trips with his church, Lakepoint Church in Rockwall.
“He participated in an outreach program at church that included going to Russia twice,” said Maribel Olivares, a family friend for more than 10 years.
Castro is also close to his family. His parents are both from different parts of Colombia, although he was born in Dallas he still appreciates his heritage.
“He is very proud of his heritage; that is why I believe he included the Spanish in his performance,” Olivares said.
Castro also enjoys Colombian food, with bandeja Paisa among his favorites. In 2005, the Colombian government planned to make the bandeja paisa the national dish, but later decided against it because of strong opposition.
The dreadlocks that Jason sports were put in by his mother about three years ago and have been growing ever since.
“He hasn’t cut his hair in five years.” Wikander said.
“I met him when the dreads were short and since then they seem to get longer and longer, they have to be really heavy,” said Camille Mayhall, whose two daughters went to school with Jason and remain good friends with the Idol contestant.
He has a younger brother and a younger sister. At the last battle of the bands in Rowlett, Jason wrote a song that would allow his then 12-year-old sister to join him on stage and perform alongside him. In addition to being close to his sister, Jason and his brother were roommates at Texas A&M University before he took a leave from school to be on American Idol.
“He is a solid guy and this couldn’t happen to a nicer person,” Mayhall said.
Castro is still learning how to be a featured performer. According to friends, he has only been playing the guitar for a little more than two years after being a drummer for many years.
“He has never really drawn a lot of attention to himself,” McMillan said. “He has never put himself in the front before, and he is transitioning into a new place.”
Castro continues to evolve as a performer with each passing week on the show and continues to show America just what he is all about.
“For Jason, winning is not his main objective, he definitely wants to win, but he believes in music and is standing for what he feels the real American idol should be,” Olivares said.
Win or lose, Castro has definitely earned the respect of a lot of people in this area because of his humble nature.
The results of this weeks vote were unavailable as of press deadline.
E-mail Kenny Green at kgreen@acnpapers.com or comment on this story at www.scntx.com.
