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Joshua Ledet: A star in the making
AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images./Alberto E. Rodriguez
Life has been great for American Idol finalist Joshua Ledet after the show put him briefly in the limelight.
'I have been working on music and I am just trying to pursue a music career and working on an album ['¦] my life definitely went from one phase to another. It has been fun,' he told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
The third-place finisher of the 11th American Idol has debuted his single 'Here to Die' on YouTube and it gained praise from music critics, including Rolling Stone, which urged record labels to give 'the fiery, from-the-gut break-up ballad' a commercial release.
Ledet said that he did it just for fun.
'I wrote the song maybe two years ago. I am in a studio; I came up with a nice concept about the melody. It is just a song of heartbreak, something that I was dealing with in my life at the time. I mean I wrote it down on paper and Rolling Stone has done a review of it, which is just shocking,' said the 22-year-old, who recently came to Indonesia to perform at Java Jazz.
The singer, who has been lauded as the best 'American Idol' of all time by MTV, said he was busy producing his first album. However, he wanted to take things slow, as he wanted the album to be perfect.
'We work on songs. We are just trying to find the right music. We have taken our time. We want it to be perfect. We don't want to rush it and put out something that is not me,' he said.
What is his music? 'Real music, no popcorn music, soul music, music that speaks to people. You can feel the music,' he said.
Raised in a religious family, Louisiana-born Ledet grew up singing in his family's church. Influenced by gospel music, Ledet said his music was inspired by popular musicians such as James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and Nina Simone.
Having strong roots in gospel music, Ledet, who still performs at Sunday mass when he returns to his hometown, said that his mission in music was to send the truth.
'I think that the truth is important and I think nowadays ['¦] people don't really speak the truth. They hide it because they want to be too commercial or too fancy, but my music is raw and my music speaks to people,' he said.
Apart from making music, Ledet has been busy touring in America and the world.
During the American Idols tour in 2012, Ledet got the chance to visit the Philippines and Canada. After that, he performed in Mexico.
Last week, he visited Indonesia for Java Jazz. 'I have seen a lot of tweets [from Indonesia]. I had a lot of tweets when I was on the show from Indonesian fans. And they all said: come to Indonesia, come to Indonesia, and I never thought I would come,' he said.
The man, who currently resides in Los Angeles, California, said he was excited about visiting new countries because it enabled him to learn new things, cultures and people.
Ledet said he was impressed with the delicacies of Indonesian food. When it comes to eating, however, he has his own ultimate favorite: crawfish, a popular Louisiana dish.
In fact, in one of the American Idol episodes, host Ryan Seacrest gave Ledet a giant bowl of crawfish to ease his craving for the food.
It seems that despite the glitzy showbiz, Ledet remains a Louisiana boy.
![A man walks across a pedestrian crossing near a billboard depicting named Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading “the honest [person's] promise“ and in Persian “Israel is weaker than a spider's web“, in Valiasr Square in central Tehran on April 15, 2024. Iran on April 14 urged Israel not to retaliate militarily to an unprecedented attack overnight, which Tehran presented as a justified response to a deadly strike on its consulate building in Damascus.](https://img.jakpost.net/c/2024/04/16/2024_04_16_149344_1713260233._medium.jpg)
