Matthew Scott "Matt" Giraud
(born May 11, 1985) is a dueling piano player from Kalamazoo, Michigan and the fifth place finalist of the eighth season of the reality television series American Idol.
[1]
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MATT GIRAUD TICKETS
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Early life
Giraud was born in
Dearborn, Michigan, but was raised in
Ypsilanti and graduated
Lincoln High School in 2003. He plays at clubs in Kalamazoo,
[2] where he also graduated from
Western Michigan University.
[3]
Career
Giraud released an album called
Perspective
in 2003 and another in 2006 called
Mind Body and Soul
.
[3].
American Idol
Giraud auditioned for the
eighth season of
American Idol
in
Louisville, Kentucky. He was considered a judges' favorite in Hollywood, with
Randy Jackson naming him among his "top 5" early favorites. During Hollywood week, he performed "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5 as part of a group called
White Chocolate
, along with fellow finalist, and future season 8 winner,
Kris Allen. He did not make the finals initially, but was brought back for the Wild Card show. The judges unanimously lauded his performance of "Who's Lovin' You" and he became a part of the Top 13 (along with
Anoop Desai,
Megan Joy, and
Jasmine Murray). Giraud was also the first and only recipient of the new judges' save for his season on April 15, 2009.
After his Top 13 performance of "Human Nature",
Kara DioGuardi remarked "I hope we see you for many more weeks."
[5] On Top 11 night, he performed "So Small", provoking
Simon Cowell to state “I don’t think you’ve had enough credit in this competition", and compare him to
Michael Bublé.
[6] On the night of the Top 8, Giraud sang "Part-Time Lover".
Paula Abdul kept her compliments short (due to time constraints), simply saying "Two words: Standing O".
[7] The next week, however, Giraud received poor reviews from Jackson and DioGuardi. The following night, the results revealed that he received the lowest amount of votes. However, for the first time in American Idol history, the judges' save was invoked and Giraud was spared elimination when the judges utilized Season 8's new twist.
[8] The consequence of this, for all of the contestants, was a double elimination after the second Top 7 night. On that night, Giraud performed "Stayin' Alive" and received mixed reviews. Nevertheless, he survived the vote that week and even avoided placing in the Bottom 3. He was eliminated on April 29, 2009 and finished in 5th place. In interviews after his elimination, Giraud says that he believed the "'Idol' judges' save wasn't a waste".
Giraud was a favorite of
Joel Madden [9] and
Kristen Dalton said
[10] she had a crush on Matt. It was also mentioned that
Lady GaGa [11] had told Matt she was sad to see him leave the show after being eliminated.
Performances/Results
Week #
| Theme
| Song choice
| Original artist
| Order #
| Result
|
Audition
| N/A
| "I Don't Want to Be"
| Gavin DeGraw
| N/A
| Advanced
|
Hollywood
| First Solo
| "Give Me One Reason"
| Tracy Chapman
| N/A
| Advanced
|
Hollywood
| Group Performance
| "I Want You Back"
| The Jackson 5
| N/A
| Advanced
|
Hollywood
| Second Solo
| "Georgia on My Mind"
| Hoagy Carmichael
| N/A
| Advanced
|
Top 36/Semi-Final 2
| Billboard Hot 100 Hits to Date
| "Viva la Vida"
| Coldplay
| 2
| Eliminated1
|
Wild Card
| N/A
| "Who's Lovin' You"
| The Jackson 5
| 2
| Selected
|
Top 13
| Michael Jackson
| "Human Nature"
| Michael Jackson
| 12
| Safe
|
Top 11
| Grand Ole Opry
| "So Small"
| Carrie Underwood
| 11
| Safe
|
Top 10
| Motown
| "Let's Get It On"
| Marvin Gaye
| 1
| Bottom 2
|
Top 9
| Top Downloads
| "You Found Me"
| The Fray
| 6
| Safe
|
Top 8
| Year They Were Born
| "Part-Time Lover"
| Stevie Wonder
| 7
| Safe
|
Top 7
| Songs from the Cinema
| "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" - Don Juan DeMarco
| Bryan Adams
| 4
| Saved2
|
Top 73
| Disco
| "Stayin' Alive"
| Bee Gees
| 6
| Safe
|
Top 5
| Rat Pack Standards
| "My Funny Valentine"
| Richard Rodgers Lorenz Hart
| 3
| Eliminated
|
- Note 1: Giraud was initially eliminated, as he did not receive enough votes to advance immediately into the Finals. However, on the March 4 results show, Kara DioGuardi selected him as one of the 8 Wild Card contenders.
- Note 2: Giraud was about to be eliminated; however, the judges decided to use their one save for the season to allow him to remain in the competition, resulting in two eliminations the following week.
- Note 3: Due to the judges using their one save to save Giraud, the Top 7 remained intact for another week.
Post–Idol
Giraud appeared on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
and
Today
show on April 30, on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
and
Access Hollywood
on May 4, and on
Live with Regis and Kelly
on May 6. Also, on May 25 2009 during a
Larry King Live
special featuring the
Idol
contestants who finished in the top 10 that season, Matt was named the "class clown" and the biggest flirt in the group. Matt performed with the rest ot the Season Eight American Idols in the American Idol Live Tour, running from July until September
http://www.americanidol.com/news/view/pid/1632
. Included in his set of songs was "
Hard to Handle" by
Otis Redding, "
Georgia on My Mind" by
Ray Charles, and "
You Found Me" by
The Fray. He also performed "
Tell Her About It" by
Billy Joel with
Scott MacIntyre.
http://www.thespaghettiincident.com/2009/07/american-idol-tour-live-set-list-2009.html. Matt is to appear as the host for
YOBI.tv's
Make the Cut, a reality contest for singers and vocalists.
http://www.yobi.tv/make_the_cut/. Matt's first solo tour is scheduled for January 29, 2010 at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center in Grand Rapids.
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/07/matt_giraud_goes_from_forest_h.html
Awards and nominations
Year
| Presenter
| Award
| Result
|
2009
| Teen Choice Awards
| Choice Summer Tour (shared with American Idol
Top 10)
| Nominated
|
References
- http://www.americanidol.com/contestants/season_8/
- http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-32/123459063858410.xml&coll=7
- The Contenders: Meet Matt Giraud
- The Contenders: Meet Matt Giraud
- MJs Top 13 Performances Recap & Review.
- MJs Top 11 Performances Recap & Review.
- MJs Top 8 Performances Recap & Review.
- "American Idol" Judges Save Matt Giraud.
- http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/04/30/idols-matt-giraud-counts-joel-madden-as-a-fan/
- http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2009/04/kristen-dalton-crushes-on-matt-giraud
- http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/05/06/american-idol-s-matt-giraud-on-winning-ov