Get ready to fall in love with Lazaro Arbos!
As much as American Idol is about good singing, it's also about good stories. And no one has a more winning combination of vocal talent and inspiring spirit than 21-year-old Lazaro.
Ever since he could talk, Lazaro has struggled with an intense stutter, which only grew stronger when his family moved from Cuba to Naples, FL, when he was ten. "The things that normal people would think are so easy become so hard for me," Lazaro says. "We don't know where my stuttering came from. It's just something that goes on and no one really knows why."
Lazaro's stuttering has affected his life so much that he often found himself alone with music as his only comfort. "Since I was small I have always wanted to sing," Lazaro says. "No one wanted to hang out with me at school and I had no friends to go out with so I would be home."
"I think music is his life," his dad, Reinaldo Arbos, adds. "I think without it, he wouldn't know what to do with his life because he loves his music."
When Lazaro walked into the American Idol auditions in Chicago, I didn't know what to expect. Sure, he won me over with his tearjerking story -- but could he sing?
Spoiler Alert! He announced his song choice as "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and as soon as he stopped speaking and started singing, his stutter vanished like magic. Seriously. He sounds like a Nick Jonas-Josh Groban hybrid and I'm convinced he's got the charm, talent, and heart to blow the competition out of the water this season on Idol.
Learn more about Lazaro's story and watch his American Idol audition below!
Do you agree with me? Is Lazaro Arbos the one to beat on this season of American Idol? Sound off in the comments!
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Ashley Spencer
J-14 Deputy Editor