American Idol's James Durbin and Jacob Lusk Sing “I’m into Something Good”

What an interesting team to pair up for a duet! American Idol Season 10's Rocker God and Gospel King ~ James Durbin and Jacob Lusk ~ perform Carol King's “I’m into Something Good.” The boys found it hilarious that they would be paired up to sing a duet. "We're gonna take it to church. Can I get an Amen," joked the boys, obviously great friends.

James and Jacob figured, 'If we have to do a duet together, we're gonna have fun with it.' They really hammed it up. It was like an old Jerry Lewis and Dino skit.

Jacob and James left the stage and headed over to Jennifer Lopez at the judges table to serenade her ~ and 'fight' over her. Both boys hit some big, huge, crazy notes at the end. Steven Tyler said, "You guys were having fun. God know you can both sing great. Man, where were you going with all that?"

Jacob Lusk, Paul McDonald, Stefano Langone and James Durbin sing “Sounds of Silence”/”Mrs Robinson”

American Idol Season 10 contestants Jacob Lusk, Paul McDonald, Stefano Langone and James Durbin sing Simon and Garfunkel's hit songs “Sounds of Silence” and ”Mrs Robinson” from the movie The Graduate.

American Idol Profile: Who is Season 10 Finalist Jacob Lusk?

Jacob Lusk was named one of the top 11 finalists for Season 10 of "American Idol," the popular Fox Television musical contest and reality TV show, in 2011. As such, Lusk is listed for the 2011 "Idols Live" nationwide tour.

Gospel choir singer Lusk auditioned for "Idol" in Los Angeles, singing The Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" and following up with Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come."

"We've been waiting for you," gushed "Idol" judge Steven Tyler on-air. Later, during the Hollywood round, Randy Jackson dubbed Lusk's cover of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" as the best-ever audition in the history of "Idol."

The crooner from Compton

With no formal vocal training, the 23-year-old African-American singer, church music minister and spa concierge points to his own late father as his primary musical influence. Lusk says he dreams of performing at the Hollywood Bowl and would love to sing with "I Will Always Love You" with Whitney Houston someday.

His favorite recording artists include Yolanda Adams, Aretha Franklin, Kirk Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Amel Larrieux and Luther Vandross.

In 2007, Lusk auditioned and joined InNate Praise, a gospel group formed by the late "Nate Dogg" Hale that gave concerts at Los Angeles County churches. The two became close friends, leading to Lusk's recent Tweets of grief over the artist's death.

Born June 23, 1987, in Compton, California, Lusk began singing as a child. In addition, he enjoys acting and playing the piano. On Twitter, he calls himself an "actor, singer and songwriter who delivers from his soul." Onstage, his expressive deliveries and earnest tears prove this to be true.

The teddy bear with the giant voice

On "Idol," Lusk has become known as much for his prodigious vocals as his cuddliness. Offering one of his more memorable quips, Tyler said this to Lusk on the show: "Gospel had a baby, and they named it Jacob Lusk."

After his Top 11 performance, Tyler climbed on stage to give the R&B and gospel singer a hug and a kiss. Then host Ryan Seacrest invited fans from the audience to step up to hug the finalist.

In the early weeks of Season 10, Lusk sang a Vandross version of Dionne Warwick's "A House Is Not a Home," R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly," i-TEN's "Alone" and Marvin Gaye's "You're All I Need to Get By."

After Lusk performed "A House Is Not a Home," Tyler exclaimed, "I'm honored ... honored to be in your presence. You make me cry when you sing. I don't know where you get it from, but I will bathe in it."

source:Linda Ann Nickerson, Yahoo! Contributor Network

American Idol's Jacob Lusk Performs “Oh No Not My Baby” on the Top 6 Show

Jacob Lusk, known on American Idol Season 10 as 'Luther Lusk' (after his many comparisons to Luther Vandross) performed “Oh No Not My Baby”. The theme for the Top 6 Show was "The Songs of Carole King". "What the judges want from Jacob is to soar, to riff, to just go off. Now it's Jacob's job to come up with parts to move those judges and this audience. He's an incredible singer, but I think he's in the most jeopardy," says Interscope producer and mentor Jimmy Iovine.

Even though Jacob sounded frustrated during rehearsals when he said he practiced the song 65 times, he was totally up-beat and smiling when he took the stage. Wow! Jacob's back! And I'm pretty sure after this amazing performance of "Oh No Not My Baby," we'll be seeing Jacob again next week! Jacob didn't over-sing it, nor did he get over-theatrical.

One of his better performances. Jacob had fun with it, and you could tell he knew nailed it by the look on his face! The audience went crazy, and all the judges loved it. Steven Tyler praised, "We all knew you could sing, it was time you shook your tail feathers! That was beautiful, man. That character, and the dancing, and the voice...that's what we're looking for. When you strut like that, that's the magic." Jennifer Lopez said, "That was a tricky song to pick, and to stick with it. Here and there were little spaces where it wasn’t perfect. You bring in that performance, you bring it home in the end, you killed it." Randy Jackson critiqued, "There were a couple spots where it was a little sharp, here and there. What I loved that you did this week, you really brought yourself back, you had an energetic performance, and you sung. The scatting was incredible. You're here because you're a great singer. So hopefully you'll stick around."

American Idol's Jacob Lusk Performs Luther Vandross' "Dance With My Father" on the Top 7 Show

American Idol's Jacob Lusk Performs "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross on the Top 7 Show. The Top 7 were given 'Songs of the 21st Century' as tonight's theme. Host Ryan Seacrest asks Jacob, "What does it mean to sing Luther tonight?" Jacob replies, "It's scary, cuz Luther was an amazing singer, one of my favorite singers. And to be compared to him, you got to do amazing. And, it's his Birthday today. Hopefully, he's looking down and smiling when I sing the song." Jacob choose Luther's "Dance With My Father", a song with a lot of meaning to him, because Jacob's father passed away when Jacob was only 12 years old. "It's just a song that really speaks to my life," said Jacob who couldn't get through rehearsals without breaking down and crying. Jacob "dedicated this performance not only to my father, but to all the fathers out there and to everybody who's lost their father and everyone who doesn't know where their father is, or doesn't feel they have one."

So, what are the other Top 7's observations of Jacob Lusk? Jacob thinks they will all say he's "loud and silly." But, pal Scotty McCreery says, "I think the universal term for Jacob Lusk is "Diva".

Jacob gave an amazingly emotional performance of this Luther Vandross classic. There were parts that were absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, Jacob's emotions overwhelmed him several times, and he had a hard time maintaining control of his normally perfect vocals. Jacob brought many people to tears with this performance!

 Steven Tyler raved, "Luther Lusk! Baby, you are so good. You remind me all the time the reason why I love music. Your daddy was up there listening to you, and it was a beautiful thing." Jennifer Lopez critiqued, "It’s hard to perform when a song means that much to you. And that's one of the tricks of being a performer ~ you have to learn the control. You have the emotion there, you want to share that with the audience. You want to give them all of you. You want to bare your soul, but at the same time you have to have enough control to find the notes, to start when you're supposed to, all the things you need to do. Emotionally, it was a beautiful performance."

 Randy Jackson added, "I've got to agree with Steven and Jennifer. Emotionally, it was a great performance. Vocally, it was good, but it didn’t make me jump up and down. And I keep waiting, every week now...I need the return of the old Jacob. I need to see you go through the roof. Go off the top. Like you saw James do earlier, just don’t hold back any more. I feel like someone's taken a racehorse and put restraints on it. Every now and then there's a bright spot, where you hit the high note. If you're here next week, go for it. Don't hold back. I need the church kid back." Jacob, not used to criticism and bad reviews, said "Something happened with the track, it was drums and stuff in my ear." Jlo, normally so nice to the finalists, set Jacob straight, saying, "I was referring more within the song, and the notes, and different places where I know he can sing it so much better, but because you have so much emotion, it takes you off." Wow! That's the first time Jennifer's ever been harsh with a contestant!

American Idol's Jacob Lusk Performs "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" on the Top 11 Revived Show

Jacob Lusk, American Idol Season 10's 'King of Gospel', remains a front-runner after performing "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". Idol contestants took on the classics by the legendary Sir Elton John in this week's 'Top 11 Revived' Show.

Jacob choose "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", saying, "The first time I heard it, I actually heard it from Mary J. Blige, not Elton John. Ironically (yeah, right!), when I was rehearsing my song, Mary J. Blige just "happened" to be in the back of the room." American Idol has been pretty bad with product placement, i.e. Coca-Cola and Ford, and questionable marketing practices, but to pimp out young Jacob's rehearsals for pre-publicity of Mary J. Blige's September Interscope album release was just tacky.

Jacob Lusk takes the stage with him cool, calm confidence, but then went against Interscope Producer Jimmy Iovine's advice and "over-dramatized". Once, again, Jacob gave a technically perfect performance. The audience just loves Jacob. Steven Tyler raved, "I watch how far out there, or in there, you get when you sing, and for that alone I think you're wonderful. I loved the whole thing. Once again, you slayed me."

 Jennifer Lopez loved Tricky Stewart's arrangement of the song, saying it "was amazing." Jennifer added, "It was beautiful. He tailored it to you. He made it yours. You made it your own. It was really beautiful, and that last note, you don't see (hear???) that everyday." Randy Jackson, sounding a bit like Steven, said, "Jacob, you know I love you, I always do. I liked the arrangement. I thought it was a beautiful song for you, and the first half was brilliant. Always remember, you got that race horse, and that gas in the tank, so give me one spot where you go all the way up. I like that you used restraint. It was brilliant."

American Idol's Jacob Lusk Performs "You're All I Need to Get By" on the American Idol Top 11 Show

American Idol Season 10's resident 'Gospel Guru' Jacob Lusk performs "You're All I Need to Get By", a duet sung by the R&B/Soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. For the Top 11 Show, Idol contestant choose songs from Motown. "Motown is sooouuuullll," croons Jacob. "I have to sing songs that when you hear them it's gotta affect a change in you. Motownmusic was about that."

Jacob Lusk is probably the strongest singer on American Idol this year, with the greatest range. This week, Jacob wishes to restrain himself a bit, to save those high notes for when they really count. Wow! He did it. He didn't over-sing it; it was perfect! Jacob received a very long standing ovation from the audience, and ALL 3 JUDGES! Steven Tyler ran up on stage to hug Jacob, and called him "Baby Luther (Vandross)".

Randy Jackson raved, "The great Barry Gordy is somewhere saying "Oh My God." This is your other best performance on this entire stage, in this entire history of this show. You were like a true professional. You know what was wrong with that performance? Absolutely nothing!" Steven Tyler gave Jacob high praise as well. "You held it back. You milked it, and at the very end, it just was beautiful. You did it." Jennifer Lopez loved Jacob's performance so much, she couldn't even wait for Steven to finish before she started raving about it! "You made us beg. You made us beg for those notes. We were like, "Give it to us, Jacob! Give it to us." You moved me. You move us. It's amazing. You took you time with it, and made us beg."

Getting to Know American Idol's JACOB LUSK!

American Idol Season 10 Top 11 finalist Jacob Lusk is 23 years old. Jacob comes from Compton, CA, and auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol in nearby Los Angeles.

Jacob received high praise from Randy Jackson for his rendition of "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday during the Hollywood rounds as the best performance ever seen on Idol. The audience has fallen in love with Jacob's pure voice and amazing range. There is a certain innocence about Jacob, and he definitely sings like an angel! The judges have given Jacob praise for every performance since the Hollywood round as well. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler told him, "I think gospel had a baby and they named it Jacob Lusk!" And judge Jennifer Lopez likes that Jacob gives himself "completely to every moment and every performance." Jacob received exceptionally high praise after singing "A House is Not a Home," written for Dionne Warwick, and made famous by Luther Vandross. Randy Jackson said, “Luther would be so proud of you. I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do.” Jacob is inspirational!

Jacob Lusk's favorite quote is "Be yourself!" And says his father is his main musical influence. Although Jacob's mom says, "Jacob gets his talent from both sides of the family," Jacob maintains, "I did NOT get my singing voice from my mother! If she goes near a mic, take it away!"

BIOGRAPHY
Jacob Lusk was born on June 23, 1987 in Southern California. He began singing when he was only four years old. Jacob is a minister of music at his church. Prior to auditioning for American Idol Season 10, Lusk worked as a spa concierge. In 2007, Jacob joined a gospel group called InNate Praise formed by the late hip-hop singer Nate Dogg, and he performed with the group at churches around Los Angeles County.

American Idol's Jacob Lusk Brings Down the House with "Alone"

American Idol Season 10's Jacob Lusk performs Heart's "Alone" on the Top 12 Show. For this week's theme, Idol's had to pick 'a song from their year of birth'. Jacob was born June 23rd, 1987. Jacob's mom says, "Jacob gets his talent from both sides of the family." But, Jacob maintains, "I did NOT get my singing voice from my mother! If she goes near a mic, take it away!" The song Jacob choose to sing from 1987 is "Alone" by Heart. Producer Jimmy Iovine likes that Jacob is taking a step out of gospel and doing a rock song, saying the gospel greats like Aretha Franklin have done that. Jimmy tells him he's "got to bring Jacob to this thing."

I get Jacob wanting to try something different, i.e. a rock song...but "Alone"? Yes, Jacob can probably sing absolutely ANYTHING perfectly. But, Jacob has such an innocence to him. I just don't see him doing a very sexualized and sensual song about getting, well, laid. Lying in bed "and the night goes by so very slow, and I hope that it won't end alone...How do I get you alone...to touch your lips and hold you tight"...etc. When Heart's Ann Wilson asked "How Do I Get You Alone?", every man in the audience would have answered, "Just ask!" Even though Jacob gave an amazing, heart-felt and emotional performance, I don't think it had that same visceral effect. Judge Randy Jackson said, "Very, very nice performance. And this was a tough one for you, because you did step out of your comfort zone. The product was so great. It was genius. Jacob is in it to win it!" Steven Tyler added, "Your mama may not have been able to sing, but she gave you the moxie that makes you who you are right now. Gospel had a baby and they named it Jacob Lusk! You're on fire." Jennifer Lopez raved, "What I love about you is that you give yourself completely to every performance, to every song, to every moment you're up there. And it's so amazing, so good. We have a competition!"

"Alone" is a song composed by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. American rock band Heart made it a #1 US hit in 1987. "Alone" was released as the first single from Heart's ninth studio album Bad Animals. Heart's version is a power ballad that begins with a piano line and a subdued vocal from Ann Wilson, only to build to a dramatic love song. "Alone" is Heart's biggest hit, spending three weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and ranking #2 on the Billboard Year-End Top Pop Singles of 1987. The song's popular video featured the band in a synched live performance. An "unplugged" version of the song later appeared on Heart's 1995 album The Road Home. Twenty years later, Céline Dion recorded it for her album Taking Chances.