Going for the ‘Idol’ title: Lee grad Beckham sings for the win tonight

Could the guy spurned by “America’s Got Talent” become the next “American Idol”?

Lee University grad Clark Beckham will sing for America’s votes in the finals of “American Idol” on Fox tonight at 9 p.m. The Season 14 winner will be crowned at the conclusion of Wednesday night’s two-hour, star-studded season finale, which starts at 8 p.m.

Beckham says he almost didn’t audition for “Idol” after the disappointment of not advancing on “America’s Got Talent” in 2014. Although he had gotten four “yes” votes from the “AGT” judges at his Newark, N.J., audition, he later received an email saying he wasn’t moving on. His mother, Terri Beckham, convinced him that he had nothing to lose by auditioning for “Idol” when Fox’s juggernaut reality show rolled into Nashville for auditions last summer.

“She said, ‘If they say ‘no,’ you haven’t lost anything by trying. If they say ‘yes,’ you sing on ‘Idol.’ Like any good Southern boy, I did what my mama wanted me to do,” the singer explains during a phone interview. “I’m in a better place now.”

Indeed, he is.

Out of several thousand aspiring singers who auditioned for “Idol’s” Season 14, Beckham is one of the last three standing. He’ll compete against Jax Cole and Nick Fradiani in tonight’s finals. One of the three will be eliminated near the top of the hour, leaving two to vie for votes. The winner signs a record deal with Big Machine Label Group on Thursday.

When you hear Ed Sheeran music, you don't say, 'Oh, that's pop,' you say 'That's Ed Sheeran.' And that's what I want to do. I want people to think 'That's Clark' when they hear my music. I am heavily influenced by R&B, but I basically like all types of music."

Should he win, Beckham says he doesn’t want to just want to make an album; his goal is to create a distinct sound.

“When you hear Ed Sheeran music, you don’t say, ‘Oh, that’s pop,’ you say ‘That’s Ed Sheeran.’ And that’s what I want to do. I want people to think ‘That’s Clark’ when they hear my music. I am heavily influenced by R&B, but I basically like all types of music.”

According to votefair.org, a website that analyzes voting numbers then builds order-of-preference lists, Beckham has been the consistent frontrunner for the “Idol” title until two weeks ago when a harsh critique from “Idol” mentor Scott Borchetta caused his building momentum to skid to a halt. The video package that accompanied that session portrayed Beckham as stubborn and unwilling to follow his mentor’s advice. At that point, rock/pop singer Cole passed Beckham and remains in the lead, with Beckham in second.

Dan Buck, assistant professor of theater at Lee who knows and taught Beckham, believes the fact he even advanced after that video smackdown “shows America is behind him.”

“I don’t think it was malicious,” Buck says of the video, “but the people in charge of putting those packages together are looking for a good story. Anything that makes conflict or a good story, they jump on it. So when they are trying to amp up the story, things like this happen.

“One of the surest ways that people get voted off the show is if it appears they don’t respect the opinion of the mentors,” Buck continues. “I know Clark very well and that is definitely not true of him. He wants to know what these judges have to say, then he soaks it up like a sponge.”

Lee University President Paul Conn calls Beckham “a friendly, easygoing person who is easy to like and enjoyable to be around.”

“Clark is just a natural performer,” Conn adds. “I think expressing himself in a song comes naturally to him, and that sincerity comes through in all kinds of music.”

Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.