Danny Noriega is an 18 year old from Asuza, California who auditioned in San Diego. When he auditioned in front of the American Idol judges, singing “Proud Mary,” he stunned Randy, Paula and Simon with his voice. The power and maturity was not something they expected out of the diminutive Danny Noriega. His impressive streak continued on through Hollywood week.

Despite being eliminated in March 7's episode of American Idol, Danny believes that he has sent out a very good message to the world.

"I showed them that you can be different and still be successful on American Idol," Danny said in his exit interview. "They said that it's cool that they never saw that before, and I'd really like to inspire those little kids that think that they can't do anything because they're different in certain ways, whether it's sexuality or their race or anything like that. It's fine to be yourself and be successful. I think that's the kind of message I want to send out."

Danny adds that being one's self is an important factor in competitions. He says that revealing his true colors gave him and edge in the competition.

"This year, I decided to just be myself and see if it would work, and it definitely worked," he said. "It got me farther than last year, obviously, but you're not going to be able to please everybody, but I wasn't really trying to."

Danny's last performance on American Idol was his rendition of "Tainted Love," and he admits that it was one of the most fun things he has ever done.

"It was so much fun. I was really happy with the performance. I don't even care what anybody says," he said. "I'm really hard on myself with my performances and stuff, but this is the one performance that I was actually semi-happy about. I was excited about it and I had a blast doing it."

Week 1: "Jailhouse Rock"
Week 2: "Superstar"
Week 3: "Tainted Love"

Danny Noriega Audition Video:


(Photo courtesy of FOX)