Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, the gay church janitor and pastor’s kid whose journey we’ve been following this year on American Idol, made his bid for the Top 20 last night, revealing that his parents haven’t accepted him so they weren’t there to watch.
Harmon’s boyfriend John was there to cheer him on as he sang Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” for the audition crowd in Hawaii.
Said Harmon: “I just gotta keep telling myself that I can do this. … I’m doing this for me. I’m doing this for everyone who’s been outcast by their loved ones. I know that this isn’t just my experience and if I can be open about it and vulnerable then maybe that can bring hope to somebody else.”
After his performance, Harmon said, “I was going to dedicate that song to my mom and dad. They were really on my mind when I sang that. I just want them to know that I love them and I tried to communicate that.”
Harmon first got the attention of the judges with an original song about getting into heaven as a gay man.
He continued winning hearts over during audition week with covers of Carole King’s “Beautiful” and Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”.
