Matt Giraud – American Idol Season 8 Top 36 Contestant

By On 02/09/2009 · 30 Comments · In Uncategorized

Matt Giraud – Louisville – 23 – Kalamazoo, MI

Matt Giraud is a 23-year-old from Ypsilanti, MI who currently resides in Kalamazoo, MI. Giraud is a life-long resident of Michigan who graduated from Western Michigan University in 2007. He sings and plays piano in local clubs and hotels.Matt, whose soulful voice reminded Simon Cowell of Seaon 5′s Elliott Yamin, was part of the Hollywood group, “White Chocolate” with India Morrison, Kris Allen and Justin Williams.   They wowed the judges with a soulful hip hop flavored take on “I Want You Back”

His performance of “Georgia” at the keyboards in Hollywood has spurred on an already growing fan base.   Matt has an excellent chance to make the Top 12.

Back home in St. Louis, Matt works at a dueling Piano bar and he’s released a CD of Christian/Gospel music–check it out on Amazon HERE.

He graduated from Western Michigan University, where he performed with the Gold Company vocal jazz program for two years.

 
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  • flicker

    Matt’s voice is my favorite so far; I hope he gets to hang around long enough to develop a fan base, and to grow as a performer.

    I love his soft rasp.

  • fedexhamlin11

    He is by far my favorite guy, I love his voice and his face …..LOL

  • http://www.myspace.com/gwendolyndiane GwendolynD

    I love him.

  • katyness

    My definate favourite going into top 36. I love his voice.

    heard rumours he gets a standing o in hollywood.

  • calimari

    I noticed him during the auditions as he’s from Michigan (my state) and he worked in a dueling piano bar. I have a dueling piano bar about a mile from my home, but he’s from Kalamazoo, which is about 3 hours from me. So I was just wondering where the other piano bar was. Perhaps, assuming he plays piano, some more energy or spark will show. He was definately in the right group for group night!

  • danceinsidex3

    I love him.

  • whosefanryou

    LOVE him!

  • jnd1221

    I love his raspy voice, i thought he was great in Hollywood, and I think he’s going to be really cute when the stylists get ahold of him. (Not that he’s bad looking now, either!)

  • Lys

    Just adding to chorus of “I love him”s. :wub_tb: He’s got a John-Mayer-ish quality in his voice (don’t know how else to describe it, lol) that I really love. Plus, he plays piano, and he’s a total cutie pie.

  • http://www.myspace.com/gwendolyndiane GwendolynD

    …and I still hear shades of Elliott Yamin in his voice.

  • Dr. Tracey

    I don’t get the Elliott comment Simon made but i’ll be watching this guy, he definitely could reel me in.

  • spanishfan

    I love him too. He has something about him.

  • http://www.myspace.com/gundomom CarieB

    Ditto to all of the above. I dig this guy!

  • St.Lucia

    I adore this guy. I didn’t from his audition, but I did after Hollywood last week.

    Dare I say I think he has a lot of star quality. He ALMOST reminded me a bit of Justin Timberlake, and I’m not sure if that’s a good comparison or not, by his voice alone. I didn’t hear Elliott, I heard Justin Timberlake.

    Not sure what I make of THAT.

    But regardless I think he’s something special.

  • Jocelin

    Um…ditto.

  • New York Avon Lady

    Hi all, just had to create an account here so I could comment on Matt…lol….OMG !!!!!!! He is the total package. The voice,the look,the height,the build,those adorable dimples. This guy just made me forget all about Season 7. :lol_wp:

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=63800280&ref=profile gerreb

    i really like this guy! His voice is so unique, that raspy quality. I hope he goes far! Can’t wait to hear more!

  • idolbeat

    I think he is my favorite of the guys but I am also looking to hear more from Stephen Fowler too. I’m originally from Michigan so I have to give it up for the Michigan man! I wonder if he went to WMU?

  • t2

    I FLOVE this guy. Unfortunately that means he will go out somewhere between 6-8. Of course it does mean he makes the top 12…

  • s0x_prisoner

    Love him too!

  • chicksineggz

    I love Matt! He’s my second favorite, right behind Anoop.

  • spanishfan

    Does anyone think he looks a bit like Michael Buble? I do think Matt has great potential but I can never forget about David Cook,the only Mr Season 7 for me. In fact the only one of the two guys I have ever been bowled over by in all the 7 seasons. Wow – he is magnificent.

  • Caffiend

    Love him!

  • Niall

    He’s got a huge thread going at IDF, hundreds and hundreds of pages. He’s definitely captured the interest of the teens and tweens so I could see him sneaking into the Top 12. I’m not terribly impressed with him, he seems like a poor mans JT in looks and a poor mans Elliott Yamin vocally, but he’s more deserving than many of the other guys in the Top 36.

  • bean99

    I think he sound pretty good but isn’t one of my favorites yet. I’ll see when they show more.

  • primeminister

    I did hear shades of Elliott during his audition, but I was very impressed with him to be hones. However, that changed during Hollywood week, and I’ve seen the 10 seconds they showed him singing “I Want You Back” more times than I’d like to admit. :)

    t2– Happy, but not too surprised, to see you here. haha, seems like we all too frequently like the same people! I hear ya about picking favorites who get kicked out Top 6-8. I have never had a favorite win!

  • revots33

    I think this guy could be one to watch. Has a nice raspy voice, a little like Gokey but his seems less forced to me.

    He also seems to be a great piano player, I have a feeling he can really do some showy stuff while playing that will really make him stand out. For some reason I get a Vince Vaughn vibe from this guy, seems cool.

  • maracaibo

    I LOVE this guy. I think he is becoming my number 1 favorite.
    His group song was amazing, and his take on “Georgia on MY Mind” was superb.
    He has star quality much more than Danny IMO.

    I can’t wait to see what he does next. I really hope he goes far. He is very talented, loved him playing the piano.

  • flicker

    He was back in his home town over the weekend, playing at the piano bar on Friday and Saturday. Rickey posted a cellcert that you can download (rickey.org)

    I was surprised AI let him escape and do a couple of shows – I wonder if they were taping it. Canadian Idol did that last year, didn’t they?

  • cacity87

    MJ – I disagree that Matt doesn’t have the verve or confidence of Elliot. If you remember, Elliot was quite timid to begin with as well. I think Matt is just a humble guy. In all of his performances so far I have seen a quite confidence about him. Which is more impressive than a big head, to me.

    I think he deserves to win! I wish more people would take notice of this guy. I think they will in a few weeks when he gets a chance to perform.