Skyler Maxey-Wert may be a dancer but after hearing his vocal abilities on American Idol, it’s clear he has a bright future as a singer.
Maxey-Wert is a 25-year-old Ballet dancer that was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania but currently resides in Germany.
At 18-years-old he graduate high school and moved to Germany to launch his dance career. He has gone on to become a very successful ballet dancer, however, he has always had a passion for singing. And one day after posting singing videos to his Instagram, Incubus’ Brandon Boyd reached out to Maxey-Wert and told him to find his singing voice and audition for the popular singing competition show.
“One day Brandon Boyd reached out and he said ‘I think you’re talented, if you want to I think you should audition for American Idol,’” Maxey-Wert told Idol judges, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan.
Wearing ballet shoes, an olive green shirt and black pants, Maxey-Wert auditioned with a cover of Donny Hathaway’s “For All We Know.”
Maxey-Wert’s audition was so impressive that it earned praise and a standing ovation from Richie, Perry and Bryan.
“So, where do you normally sing?” Richie questioned the contestant, who replied, “I do open mics sometimes, or stuff like that.”
“Where was this voice when you were dancing?” Perry asked, to which Maxey-Wert replied, “I guess in my body, inside.”
“God, if you ever created that and you incorporated dance, God,” Bryan said as he was left speechless.
“You have brought us an element we have never experienced,” Richie gushed. “And I don’t think your trip was in vain.”
“My thing is… I mean, we sit here and we see these singers that they throw away their phrases. Well, brother you do not have that problem, you’re holding these notes and you’re making them tangible moments and then there’s this professional dancer in there too.”
“I would imagine if you sang a song and then you did a verse of dance then went back to the song, it would be mind-blowing,” Bryan added.
“What a gift to American Idol,” Richie said, praising the contestant’s talents.
Maxey-Wert earned three ‘yes’ from Idol judges and a golden ticket to Hollywood.
American Idol returns with Hollywood week on Monday, March 28 at 8/7c.