 Elliott Yamin (pronounced yah-meen)
was born in Los Angeles, California to an Israeli Jewish father,
Shaul Yamin (of Iraqi heritage), a part-time house painter and
part-time layabout, and a Jewish American mother, Claudette
Yamin, ne Goldberg, who herself was a former professional
singer. He began singing at the age of five and had no formal
training. Elliott Yamin is 90% deaf in his right ear, which he
mentioned in the third round of the American Idol
semi-finals.
Prior to American Idol, Elliott Yamin
was featured on three tracks ("Sound Doctrine", "Song of Hope",
"Whatchacomeherefoe?") of gospel artist Big Planz's 2005 album
Sound Doctrine. His rendition of Moody's Mood For Love,
by James Moody, is featured on the American Idols Season 5
Encores CD compilation.
Elliott Yamin auditioned for American Idol in
Boston (he originally considered auditioning in Memphis,
Tennessee, but the audition was cancelled due to Hurricane
Katrina). Elliott Yamin performed "A Song For You" (which he
also later sang in the finals) and made it to Hollywood.
Elliott Yamin's primary genre is soul; he was
described as a blue-eyed soul singer by Rod Stewart while on the
show. His favorite artists are Alicia Keys, Donny Hathaway,
Stevie Wonder, and Usher.
Elliott Yamin had little airtime in the early
rounds of the show, and was generally unknown to viewers before
the semifinals began. He was initially considered a longshot by
some to even make the finals, but his personality, consistency,
and praised vocals carried him far into the season. Of the
American Idol contestants whose auditions were not shown by
the producers, only Bo Bice and Kelly Clarkson advanced further
in the competition than Elliott Yamin.
On May 17, 2006 Elliott Yamin was voted off
the show with 33.06% of the votes. Katharine McPhee and Taylor
Hicks received 33.26% and 33.68% of the votes, although it is
unknown who got which amount. Known as a humble, caring,
sensitive man, one not afraid to cry in public, Elliott Yamin
was a well-liked contender among Idol producers, judges
(especially Paula Abdul, who called him her "favorite", and used
to call him "one funky white boy"), the Idol staff and band, and
the other Idol contestants. Simon Cowell said that after five
seasons, he potentially was the "best male vocalist ever" on
American Idol; Cowell later told Jay Leno that Elliott Yamin was
one of the nicest contestants ever on American Idol.
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