'American Idol' finalist takes a risk by honoring a surprising real-life idol

Well, I certainly never expected to see George Lewis Jr. – a.k.a. esoteric indie’chillwave/funk artist Twin Shadow -- on a show as mainstream as American Idol. But when finalist Alejandro Aranda, the humble dishwasher who’s already drawn raves from Stevie Nicks and Ben Harper and been described as a “genius” by the judges, brought Twin Shadow on Sunday’s top five show for his “heroes” dedication (a segment in which the other contestants predictably paid tribute to relatives), it made perfect sense. After all, Alejandro, who makes music under the name Scarypoolparty, is one of the most unique and eccentric contestants in Idol history, and certainly the only one who’d ever receive a positive review in Pitchfork. And it turns out that Twin Shadow set Alejandro on his unlikely Idol path, when he discovered Alejandro’s raw talent via social media and became his musical mentor and benefactor. “George not only believed in me, but he pushed me to get my songs out there. He believed in me so much,” Alejandro said. “Everything that I needed to create music, he just gave it to me, and he didn’t expect anything other than for me to make music.” When Alejandro thought about giving up on his dream, Twin Shadow encouraged him to keep going… although he surely never expected that one day Alejandro would repay the favor by giving him a career boost of his own, via some major TV exposure. “I was honored to have Alejandro call me on for their ‘heroes’ segment. This kid blew my mind the second I saw him, almost five years ago,” Twin Shadow posted in an Instagram video with Alejandro and colleague Wynn Bennett on Sunday. “I was lucky enough to have him in the live touring band for a year. With @whoiswynn and @scarypoolparty flanking me onstage I felt stronger than I had in years. Their musicality and ability to push the songs to the edge is a blessing to me. Again, I am so proud of ‘Hondo,’ he is the sure bet and it don’t surprise me none that he’s done as well as he has. Please show your support by listening to his songs and supporting the amazing career he is about to have. I don’t need to tell you that, he already has your attention.” The top five contestants all performed three times Sunday: songs picked by adviser Bobby Bones, Elton John songs, and hero dedications. And while most of them seemed to have already plateaued, giving lazy and safe performances that were in no way worthy of the season’s penultimate episode, Alejandro peaked at just the right moment -- especially with the aptly titled jazz/prog/classical/soul/pop/fusion original he sang for Twin Shadow, “Blesser.” At this point, Alejandro has done more originals in one season than any other Idol contestant ever, and I am more than ready to buy his EP featuring this stunning track alongside “Out Loud,” “Cholo Love,” “Ten Years,” and “Poison.” He did his hero proud tonight, and he demonstrated what George Lewis Jr. saw in him all those years ago. As much as I would love to see Alejandro win Season 17, I almost think he’d be better off losing, because no coronation song that the Idol powers-that-be could give him could ever be as cool or on-brand for him as “Blesser.” But he could win – because at the end of Sunday’s episode, he was voted through to the top three competing in next week’s grand finale, along with good ole Southern boy Laine Hardy and “the next Kelly Clarkson,” Madison Vandenburg. Will America get behind Alejandro the indie oddball, or go with the other two more obvious, less Twin-Shadowy finalists? Will viewers party with a Hardy, or hit up the Scarypoolparty? That remains to be seen, but as judge Luke Bryan advised Alejandro, he better “wrap his head around being a ginormous star.” And maybe he can take Twin Shadow on tour with him next time.