Yes, That Was Nate Tao, Some Dude From Reston, on American Idol (Updated With Audition Video)

Some Twitter operative took a picture of his teevee showing a picture of Nate Tao, who's apparently from Reston, on American Idol, which is apparently a singing show on the teevee. And he apparently got four yes votes and a "golden ticket" subjecting him to further reality television embarrassment. Good on him!

There are many YouTubes videos of Nate singing, including this song, which apparently is the one he sang during his audition tonight (we don't know -- we would have been watching 30 Rock if we were watching teevee at all).


More videos are available here. (We liked the Adele cover.)

From his bio:

Nate Tao is an artist with an impressive yet growing resume. He has performed at Lincoln Center, Fenway Park, and the Kennedy Center. Known for his smooth but powerful voice, he truly excels at pop/r&b music and loves to perform.

Originally from Northern Virginia, Nate is a first generation Taiwanese-American born to deaf parents. He grew up playing piano but realized his true passion was singing. Having grown up without any musical influences from his parents, he ended up listening to his older sister's pop albums. It turns out that pop music is where he feels the most passionate.

Between Tao and Kei$ha's songwriter, Reston is rapidly becoming the avant-garde epicenter of the pop music universe. These guys were just ahead of their time.

Nothing quite like an excuse to use the Drudge Sireen twice in a week.

Update: Here's the audition video, assuming you can endure the requisite montage of bad auditions beforehand.