He’s one Strong Islander.
“American Idol” auditions tend to be a nerve-racking experience for most contestants, exponentially so for Jesse Findling, since he’s stuttered his entire life.
“I was under a lot of stress and pressure, and I knew that I was going to stutter more under that environment, which was scary at first,” the 20-year-old college student from Massapequa told The Post.
“But I knew I had to be brave . . . and know that walking into that room, it’s not about my stutter, it’s about my voice.”
Findling — who aced the audition and will be performing on the ABC series’ Season 24 premiere on Jan. 26 — had undeniable talent on his side, along with the fact that when he sings, his stutter disappears.
“There’s a whole science behind it. When you sing, you’re using a different part of your brain,” he explained.
Findling, who endured years of speech therapy and was always embarrassed to raise his hand in class, said he hopes to be an inspiration to young people with the same impediment.
“I wanted to be something that, maybe a kid . . . would watch my audition and feel inspired to do something big or even just raise their hand in class,” he said.
The SUNY-Binghamton junior got the news he would be auditioning in front of “Idol” judges Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and Carrie Underwood in September.
“My roommate at Binghamton probably hated me because I would sing a bunch of songs every single day. It was a lot,” said Findling, who is in the university’s musical theater program.
He missed a few classes to fly to Nashville with his family for the audition in November, where he performed “In The Stars” by “Idol” alum Benson Boone, a song he sings at home with his younger brother, who also has a stutter.
“I want to be a role model for him, because I knew how hard it was for me in school. . . . I’m going to be thinking of him when I sing it,” he said in his audition video, which has already gone viral with 24 million views.
His soulful voice wowed the judges — who all gave him a standing ovation — with Underwood calling it “beautiful,” and Bryan saying, “I don’t think I blinked one time.”
“Seeing them all stand up at the end, it was insane because I knew that I could sing, but I didn’t think that I was as good as, you know, when they all stood up. It was a surprise to me,” he said.
Richie addressed the stutter, which Findling told the judges about, and which could be heard when he spoke to them.
“What problem? You don’t have a problem,” the Grammy winner said. “The only thing wrong with you is you gotta figure out how you’re gonna navigate this career.”
Findling later gushed, “That was sweet. Lionel Richie’s great. He has this really calming vibe to him, that when I walked into the room, I felt at ease.”
Hearing the trio’s accolades changed the newfound reality star’s perspective and “made me walk out of the room a different person,” he said. “I feel so much more confident now in my ability as a singer.”
Before the judges all voted yes to advance him to the next round, Hollywood Week, they brought out Findling’s parents, both Brooklyn natives, along with his sister and brother.
“I had no idea,” he said. “This is also big for them because they’re not used to all of this. So the fact that I got to include them in my story and have them be a part of that day in the way that they were made me really happy.”
Findling is currently majoring in biology — but that can change now that the world has heard his voice.
“Before ‘American Idol,’ I was thinking of maybe being a physician’s assistant or going into medical sales or something in that realm. But things are changing,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to be a singer.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
