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Who is Jake Thistle? ‘American Idol’ Season 24 to turn the heat up with Rutgers alum's moving audition

Alongside his 'American Idol' audition, Jake Thistle is set to drop his debut single, 'Sleep On Me,' this Friday

With each new episode, 'American Idol' Season 24 continues to entertain, thanks to its lineup of talented contestants. From Philmon Lee's unique vocals to Hannah Harper's self-composed song, the bar is already high in the competition. Adding to the excitement, a talented Rutgers alum, Jake Thistle, is set to appear in an upcoming episode, and he is sure to give the other contestants a tough challenge.

Jake has been garnering love for his musical talents for a while now. During his time at the School of Communication and Information, he performed at numerous Rutgers events such as COMMChella and the BeCOMM talk show, in addition to shows across the Tri-State area and beyond. Talking about his recent experiences with The Daily Targum, Thistle said, "I did some recording and some shows in LA, and then … I did Idol in Nashville … and then I did four weeks in Europe so I didn't see a lot of Rutgers in my last semester. I was grateful for Canvas, you know, as much as one can be."

Since graduating this past January, Thistle has focused on his music career, particularly his appearance on 'American Idol.' He explained, "Once this summer hit, and we looked at our fall, we decided, 'OK, this might be the year for it.' I'm not sure if it actually was, but it felt like it had been a long time coming … and it's become such an iconic piece of culture, so I was just really grateful for the opportunity." Thistle further shared how meaningful it was to discuss music with fellow contestants and perform in front of some of the country's top music idols.

He said, "I'm looking forward to it. I haven't seen any media involving me from ('American Idol') since I did it. So it's going to be exciting for me to see … sort of how much I'm remembering correctly or not." In addition to the show, Thistle is also releasing a single titled 'Sleep On Me' this Friday. Talking about recording the track in Boston with members of Tom Odell's band, he said, "I'm a huge Tom Odell fan, so getting to work with a couple people from this band really meant a lot to me, and they treated the track with such care." He also mentioned that he’s finalizing his record with the hopes of releasing it by the end of the year. Fans can watch Jake Thistle in action on 'American Idol' on February 16 at 8 pm ET on ABC.