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Filo Ebid, a recent “American Idol” contestant from Dublin, said he still remembers watching YouTube videos of past contestants’ journeys on the show when he was a kid growing up in Egypt.
“I was just a huge fan in general,” the singer and actor told the Weekly.
When he finally got his chance of being on the singing competition show that he loved for so many years during its 23rd season, he said he felt vindicated in a way — even though he always had a feeling he would eventually earn his spot in the limelight.
“When the opportunity came knocking that was a relief because it was like … the universe rewarded my hard work,” he said.
In an interview with the Weekly, the Dougherty Valley High School alumnus spoke for the first time about his experience being on the show and his own personal journey that started when he moved to the San Ramon Valley from Cairo, Egypt when he was 13 years old.
Ebid said his family had immigrated to the U.S. to seek asylum from religious persecution.
At first, he said moving to the suburbs of the Tri-Valley was a culture shock and that acclimating was a bit difficult — despite the diversity in the area. It wasn’t until he got into music that he began discovering who he really was and found his place of belonging in the world of music and theater.
Now, looking back, he said he was lucky to grow up in the Tri-Valley because if not, he would have never joined the Dougherty Valley choir and he would have never landed a role in his first ever musical — “Shrek the Musical”.
“That’s why music and theater are … a huge part of who I am,” Ebid said.
Following his high school career in musical theater and choral ensembles in the Tri-Valley, Ebid went on to study vocal performance at the University of the Pacific. But it wasn’t until he went to the Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain to study and later earn a master’s degree in contemporary performances that he got his shot at auditioning for “American Idol”.
Ebid recalled that he had attended an event with an artist who spoke at his school in Spain and afterward, he connected with the singer who ended up having connections with the talent show. Ebid was told the show was looking for people to audition and was encouraged to enter his name.
“At first, I was hesitant because the show’s tough,” he said. “But then I was like, yeah, sure, you can send them my videos and then immediately they reached out and then the rest is history.”
As a fan of the show, Ebid said he knew the audition process was going to be hard, which was made even more evident when they went from over 140 contestants to 24 in just five days.
“You feel all the five stages of grief even when you’re not grieving,” he said.
But then what followed was a run of episodes where Ebid not only won over the hearts of the judges, but the hearts of “American Idol” fans all over the world.
“It’s like a pinch-me moment,” Ebid said as he reflected about his time on the show. “But when you’re there it just happens so fast and it’s really intense.”
Ebid eventually made it to the Top 12 before he and fellow contestant Ché Chesterman failed to get enough votes to push them to the final Top 10 contestants during the episode entitled “Iconic Idol Moments” on April 28.
But the aspiring vocalist said he wasn’t discouraged by not making it through — especially given the immense talent from his fellow Season 23 castmates who he said, in any other past season, could have easily won the entire competition.
“The fact that I made it in the Top 12 of this season is truly bonkers,” Ebid said.
He also said that one thing that helped affirm his career in music, apart from making it so far in the competition, was seeing the support he got from his family — particularly from his mom who he said wanted him to get into the medical field. He said his mom didn’t want to see her son disappointed going into the music industry.
But that changed after his recent stint on the show.
“Their support on this journey really blew me away,” he said. “They’ve really been there for me.”
Now, he knows his future is in music and with a new single having been released in March, he feels like he has enough momentum to keep making a name for himself in Southern California.
“Music runs in my blood and I don’t see myself doing anything else other than music,” he said.
He also said he eventually would like to return to the Tri-Valley to bring back the music scene that he said he saw go away after the pandemic.
“I really hope to come back to the Tri-Valley and really find a way to bring back live music in the area,” he said. “The live music scene has kind of dwindled down in the Bay Area — in the Tri-Valley — and I hope to find a way to really revitalize that and reignite that fire for the musicians.”
