Viewers didn’t get to hear much from Tyler N. Allen on “American Idol,” but he has promised it won’t be long before fans hear more.
Allen, who’s from Mobile, was featured prominently in the show’s season premiere. He dedicated “I Believe in You and Me,” a Four Tops song turned into a hit by Whitney Houston, to his nephew Noah Brown, who died at age 1 in a wreck last year. He moved Katy Perry to tears in the process and won his golden ticket to the Hollywood round.
On Monday night, as the show’s judges completed the task of paring 59 contenders down to the Top 24, Allen didn’t make the cut. Anyone following his run had to work it out by process of elimination: When the 24th spot was filled, Allen hadn’t been seen.
That’s the way it went for the last week: Allen’s performance in the genre round wasn’t shown. Nor was his duet. Nor his final “showstopper” song. It was a frustrating way to go -- but in a lengthy live video on Facebook, Allen took the high road.
“This ain’t the end of it, this is the beginning of greatness,” Allen said in the video. He struck an upbeat note throughout, saying that “it’s been a great journey, it’s been a great ride,” that he had enjoyed “every bit of it” and that his experience on the show had “opened up a lot of doors for me.”
“This was a testing ground to see if I was going to remain consistent. If I was going to remain consistent in my faith,” said Allen, a worship leader whose background is in church music. “Something greater, something far bigger than ‘American Idol’ is on the way, it’s almost here, it’s going to be here before the year is out. … You’re going to see me teaming up with some amazing people.”
Among other revelations, Allen told fans what songs he’d sung in Hollywood. In the genre round he sang “So High” by John Legend and his duet was “Never Enough” from the movie “The Greatest Showman.” His final showstopper performance was Whitney Houston’s “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.”
“I’m not sure if they’re going to post it at a later time,” he said of those unseen performances. “But from what I’ve been told, I don’t think they’re going to post it.”
Allen said he planned to start working on an album soon, with the goal of releasing it before year’s end. In the meantime, he’ll be plenty busy: He has moved to Memphis, he said, where he has become assistant pastor at Integrity Family Life Center. As he spoke, he showed work setting up the church’s new home.
“What would seem to be a loss is actually a gain,” he said.
Allen thanked family, mentors and other supporters, including faculty and friends at the University of Mobile, where he toured with the vocal ensemble Voices of Mobile.
“Idol’s” 20th season continues, with three other contenders from Alabama moving on to the Top 24.
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