受影響的音樂人: Ray LaMontagne, Juanes, Carlos Vives and Kirk Baxley
家庭成員: 父親René、母親Betsy、弟Michael、妹Jackie
配偶:Mandy Mayhall (兩人於2010年1月結婚,1月3日,Jason在自己的twitter里寫道:“昨天我娶了自己夢中的女孩…生活不可能再完美了!現在,蜜月去咯!”)Yesterday I married the girl of my dreams," he tweeteed Sunday. "It couldn't have been more perfect! Now, honeymoooon!!! :)"
"To be a loving father, a faithful husband and a servant of all."
"At the end of the day I don't think anything is greater than being able to serve the people around you, I find the greatest joy in helping other people and serving, anything you do for yourself what good is it at the end of the day."
"My biggest fear is wasting my life."
"In the end, it will all be ok. If it's not ok, then it's not the end!"
"I am real and that's all I have to offer."
"Be something unique and undeniable."
"I think arrogant people disappoint me. Nobody has a right to think they are better than anyone else."
"One of foundation principles of my faith is that we're all the same... You know, I'm no better, but no worse, than anybody else... I think everybody should just keep that in mind."【Go watch the top 6 behind the scenes video everyone: http://www.americanidol.com/videos/?vid=1199&pcs=459】
"My mom taught me never to make a person look wrong. I am just respectful."
"I don't expect a lot so things don't come unexpectadly nothing is really a surprise if you think everything is a surprise."
Idol:
"I couldn’t connect with the songs in the given time. I couldn’t fall in love with them -- you need time for that."
"What you see is what you get. I didn’t change at all coming here."
"It doesn't define me who I am if I make it 20th or 4th."
"And I like music and anything that has to do with music. There's just been a lot more non-music stuff than I thought ... like taking pictures and talking. I'm not good at talking."
On group songs:
"Its kind of fun being goofy."
"I’ve learned I can do a lot more than I thought. I just gained a lot of confidence and learned that I can do it."
On his improved interview skills:
"I try to think of them now more as conversations than interviews."
On regrets:
"Not at all, I did everything as best as I can given the circumstances."
On the judges:
"They're just people. We're all just people."
"I first thought that my life of singing experience as a downfall for me and now I believe that teaching myself to sing in the last few years has given me an authentic voice that is a perfect extension to everything I am."
Music:
"I'm just excited to let music be music."
"I generally think I have a good idea of music and what I think it is. It's always a reaffirming thing, about loving the music and doing that from the heart, and I think that’s the core of music."
"I just really like putting heart and soul into it."
"Loving the music and doing it from the heart is the core of music. It is easy to forget when you have to rush. Having a Hallelujah moment takes time."
On what's next:
"Wherever music leads me. I wanna play some music somewhere."
"If I could just make music thats just my dream job."
"I'm excited to get back to the music and quit singing other peoples' songs and do my own stuff."
On the best part of the upcoming tour:
"Playing shows every night....DUHHHH!"
"I just want to write music that inspires and touches people. It will be acoustic music because that is what I know."
"Singing is such a vulnerable thing. If you're playing an instrument, you can mess up and it's like, “Oops,” but if you're singing, it's like your voice, you know, and it's just intimidating to me."
On Jeff Buckley's Hallelujeh:
"How cool if people hadn’t heard that song -- they should have, and I’m glad that now they have.
On the forgotten line in Mr. Tamborine Man:
"Those are written on your soul I don't know where they went."
"I’m just a big country fan. I love the heart behind it."
On Somewhere Over The Rainbow:
"The song is all about hopes and dreams, dreams coming true, thats what this week is all about. We're trying to make a difference, make a change in the world. We can, dreams do come true. I hope this inspires to dream big."
Interviewers: Let's talk about Tuesday night. When Simon said no one should ever cover ''I Shot the Sheriff,'' did you think of reminding him that Eric Clapton did a great cover of the song?
Jason: You know, sometimes he says things that are obviously wrong. But no, I wouldn't have said that to him. My mom taught me never to make a person look wrong. I am just respectful. It's my place to sing a songand his place to judge.
In an interview with OK magazine...
“I think that music is an extension of one’s self, so I’ll try to write stuff that represents me."
音樂背景
Jason Castro 是搖滾樂隊 Charlemagne(後更名為 Keeping Lions)的鼓手,曾經和當地的一
些樂隊比如 Oh, Sleeper 一起參加演出。他聲稱,他的音樂受 Ray LaMontagne, Juanes,
Carlos Vives 和 Kirk Baxley 的影響比較大。
美國偶像歷程
Jason 在達拉斯參加美國偶像海選時演唱的曲目是 Keith Urban 的“Once in a Lifetime”,好萊塢周演唱的曲目是Ray LaMontagne 版的 Crazy(原唱 Gnarles Barkley)。由於著作權問題直到 top24 時他的所有表演均沒有被播放,是進入 top12、曝光率最低的選手。評審 Simon Cowell 在 2008 年 3 月 17 日參加 The Oprah Winfrey Show 節目時說,Jason Castro 以及其他三名選手 David Archuleta, Brooke White 和 David Cook是他最喜歡的選手。在 4 月 12 日,美偶主持人 Ryan Seacrest 和三位評審參加 Larry King Live節目,當 Larry King 公布的“你想要誰將贏得美國偶像”網路投票結果,Jason Castro 處於領先位置。在被淘汰出局之前,Jason 只有一次進入 B3,在 2008 年 5 月 7 日被“投票”淘汰出局。 5 月 8 日,即,Jason 被淘汰出局後的第二天,The Ellen DeGeneres Show 網站所舉行的一項民意投票顯示,75% 的民眾不同意這一結果。
“paulagate”事件
【在 5 強比賽 Neil Diamond 主題周時,在第一輪演唱結束後的評審點評環節中,評審 Paula Abdul 在點評完Jason Castro 第一首歌表現之後,對 Jason 當時尚未演唱的第二首歌進行了“表現非常糟糕”的評論。儘管主持人和其他兩位評審隨即掩飾了這個意外,但還是引起了輿論和觀眾關於節目是否有黑幕的強烈反應和猜測。這就是美偶歷史上的著名“paulagate”事件】
iTunes
Jason Castro 在美偶比賽期間所演繹的“Hallelujah”(原唱 Leonard Cohen)激發觀眾在 iTunes Store上下載 Jeff Buckley 演繹的版本,並將其推到 iTunes 單曲榜第一的位置。在 Jason 表演之後的一周里,Buckley版本的“Hallelujah”下載銷量達 178,000 份,首次登入 Billboard Hot Digital Songs 榜第一名。根據 Billboard 2008年3月22日發行的結果,這是一首被選手在美偶舞台表演後下載銷量最高的歌曲。這是Buckley的版本首次進入Billboard 榜,也是 Buckley 的歌曲首次進入美國所有榜單的第一名(Jeff Buckley 死於1997年5月29日,年僅30歲)。Jason Castro 的表演將 Jeff Buckley 的版本推至2008年4月22日的白金單曲。
在 iTunes 榜單排名第一的 Castro 版本的“Hallelujah”被很快撤下,因為 American Idol 主辦方不想讓任何選手受到偏愛。
Jason 在 top8 時演唱的“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”是當周下載銷量最高的歌曲,也將夏威夷傳奇歌手Israel Kamakawiwo'ole 版的“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”推至 iTunes Top20 第八的位置。Jason Castro是唯一的一位將其他藝術家的單曲推進 iTunes Top10 的選手。
美偶比賽期間的表演和結果
Week #
Theme
Song choice
Original artist
Order #
Result
Top 24 (12 Men)
1960s
"Daydream"
The Lovin' Spoonful
11
Safe
Top 20 (10 Men)
1970s
"I Just Want to Be Your Everything"
Andy Gibb
2
Safe
Top 16 (8 Men)
1980s
"Hallelujah"
Leonard Cohen
7
Safe
Top 12
Lennon/McCartney
"If I Fell"
The Beatles
4
Safe
Top 11
The Beatles
"Michelle"
The Beatles
8
Safe
Top 10
Year They Were Born
"Fragile"
Sting
2
Bottom 3*
Top 9
Dolly Parton
"Travelin' Thru"
Dolly Parton
4
Safe
Top 8
Inspirational Music
"Over the Rainbow"
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
3
Safe
Top 7
Mariah Carey
"I Don't Wanna Cry"
Mariah Carey
7
Safe
Top 6
Andrew Lloyd Webber
"Memory"
Cats
2
Safe
Top 5
Neil Diamond
"Forever in Blue Jeans" "September Morn"
Neil Diamond
1, 6
Safe
Top 4
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
"I Shot the Sheriff" "Mr. Tambourine Man"
Bob Marley, Bob Dylan
3, 7
Eliminated
美國偶像後時代
Jason 參加了很多電視節目,其中包括 Live with Regis and Kelly, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Sauce, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Access Hollywood, Today, The Best Day Ever, and Larry King Live 等。