'American Idol' Season 18 'This Is Me': How Francisco Martin got over his personal hell to reach the Top 20
The latest episode of 'American Idol' just aired on Sunday night, April 19, and once again, thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, it was a recap episode, titled 'This Is Me' before the Top 20 voting kicks off in earnest next week. This week's episode showed some previously-unaired performances from our favorite contestants and took a closer look at some of the contenders left in the competition via a collage of pre-taped footage. One of the aspiring 'Idol' winners this season whose roller-coaster journey really stood out from the rest of the pack was Francisco Martin, a 19-year-old student from San Francisco.
Dubbed Francisco from San Francisco, the young lad is clearly talented, but when he appeared for his audition in the early stages of the competition, he looked like he was on the verge of having a panic attack. Francisco sang 'Alaska' by Maggie Rogers and also sang a previously unaired rendition of King of Leon's 'Use Somebody'. His strong, clear voice and clean-cut pop Idol image made the judges swoon. In fact, Luke Bryan revealed that he had already penciled him in as the eventual winner of the competition.
But things got a bit mixed for Francisco in Hollywood. His nerves and self-doubts started getting the better of him during Hollywood Week, and Louis Knight even had to help cover for him when he forgot the lyrics during their Hollywood duet segment. Although he managed to squeak through to the Top 40 on the basis of an amazing solo version of his (previously unseen) original song 'Lover', Francisco was experiencing his very own version of hell. He revealed that he had experienced some pretty dark days after turning 19 and had started to give up on himself in the recent past. Francisco admitted that he had even lost some close friends due to his emotional and mental issues. But after some earnest counseling from the judges and fulltime mentor Bobby Bones, Francisco regained his stride and stopped overthinking things.
Determined to show that he had what it took to win the Idol crown, his cathartic performance of Harry Styles' 'Falling' in Aulani, Hawaii, was incredible. It was an exorcism of his past, a leap of faith to a brand-new level of self-confidence. The nervous, timid Francisco had disappeared and from the ashes of his past emerged a steely-eyed, focused competitor, ready to show the judges that he was ready to repay their confidence in his potential. Moving into the Top 20 portion of the singing contest, Francsico remains something of a talented enigma; he could easily win the entire season because of his brilliant voice, but he merely has to get out of the way of his own head.
His fans certainly think he has what it takes. "Francisco Martin from American Idol is so precious," said a fan, while another admirer said, "This kid's voice gives me chills and he's INCREDIBLE."
Now that things have truly come full circle for Francisco, it's all up to him and America, of course, as he looks to navigate the next level of the competition. 'American Idol' recently announced that that would be hosting a remote-access stay-at-home virtual competition, where the contestants would vie with each other as they entered the Top 20 phase of the competition from April 26 onwards. 'Idol' also revealed tonight that Grace Leer had been voted into the Top 20 courtesy of American voters, so make sure you tune in next Sunday at 8 pm ET on the ABC network to catch the next voting round that features the contestants singing from home.
