James Conrad Verraros (born February 8, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor, who placed ninth on the first season of American Idol. Raised by deaf parents, he is fluent in American Sign Language and gained notoriety on American Idol for signing the lyrics to his audition song. After competing on the series, he released three pop rock, dance albums with music producer and songwriter Gabe Lopez. Verraros was also featured on the 2002 compilation album American Idol: Greatest Moments, covering "Easy" by the Commodores – this album reached number four on the Billboard 200 chart.
While participating in the 2002 American Idols LIVE! tour, Verraros came out as gay. He was the first American Idol finalist to come out, and he remained the series' only publicly gay finalist for over three years. Several organizations subsequently honored Verraros as an influential figure within the gay community (such as Out magazine, which named him to its "Most Intriguing People" list twice, first in 2002 and again in 2006). Throughout his music career, Verraros performed at numerous pride events. He also toured at gay clubs.
Verraros released his official debut album, Rollercoaster, through independent label Koch Records in 2005. It was accompanied by two singles and received generally positive reviews. Some of the songs from Rollercoaster had previously been featured on a demo album, Unsaid and Understood, which Verraros had self-released through mp3.com around 2003. The lead single from Rollercoaster, "You Turn It On", peaked at number twenty-one on the Billboard Dance Club Play Chart.
In addition to music, Verraros pursued an acting career. He had a starring role in the first two installments of the gay comedy film franchise Eating Out, and he had a cameo in Another Gay Movie. He also stayed involved with American Idol-related projects for several years. In 2003, he joined with various finalists from the first two seasons of the series for a promotional tour of select shopping malls throughout the United States, and later, he co-hosted a video recap series of American Idol's seventh season for AfterElton.com.
In 2007, Verraros released a non-album single about his then-to-be husband, Bill Brennan; the song, "You Make It Better", was featured in the second Eating Out film. Verraros and Brennan married in 2009. The same year as his wedding, Verraros self-released three new singles, although the accompanying second album, Do Not Disturb, was not released until 2011. Following Do Not Disturb, Verraros announced his intention to retire from music. He subsequently served as executive vice president of Brennan's organization, Bridal Expo Chicago and Bridal Expo Milwaukee. Verraros and Brennan have since separated.
Early life Verraros was born on February 8, 1983, in Mount Prospect, Illinois. He grew up in nearby Crystal Lake. His father, Nicholas, and mother, Debbie, both lost their hearing after contracting German measles as infants. Verraros was raised to be fluent in American Sign Language. The responsibility of interpreting for his parents as a child led him to relate with people older than himself, more than he did with others his own age. Reflecting on his childhood, Verraros once said, "I had to do things like hold phone conversations and discuss things with doctors and even real estate agents. I had to become well-versed not only with sign language but with people skills as well...I didn't have time for bullshit."
Around the age of twelve or thirteen, Verraros realized that he is gay. Although he did not come out publicly until after adolescence, his sexual orientation was apparent to his classmates, who bullied him during middle school. In response, Verraros developed a more masculine appearance. In a 2003 interview, he said of the time, "I changed my image. I wore a lot of baggy jeans, I gained weight, and it was fine for a while." He also sought help from the school psychologist during those years. High school marked a more significant improvement for him – he became active in theater and went on to attend Monmouth College on a theater scholarship.
Upon later transferring to Columbia College, Verraros struggled to find acting opportunities. Insecure about the weight that he had put on, he began doing intensive workouts and became a vegetarian. Over the course of two and a half months, he lost around eighty pounds. Some people thought that he had developed an eating disorder, and Verraros later acknowledged that he most likely did.
Verraros was open about his sexual orientation with classmates at both colleges. Looking back in 2004, he said that people who had been mean to him in high school were "rooting" for him at Monmouth and that he came out to his mother and sister during this time. In another interview, he called the environment at Columbia "beyond gay-friendly".
American Idol During his time at Columbia College, Verraros followed a friend's suggestion to try out for American Idol and attended the auditions in Chicago – even though his primary interest was acting. Verraros later said that he had only tried out "for fun" and without any expectations. In 2006, he reminisced, "I wasn't really looking for a record deal. I was looking for the experience, and everything just kind of... happened." The auditions were held only a few blocks away from his college dorm.
Attempting to stand out, Verraros chose to sing "When I Fall in Love" by Nat King Cole at his audition, rather than a pop song. He was nineteen at the time. While singing, he also signed the lyrics to his song. American Idol heavily focused on his parents' disabilities, and several publications speculated that Verraros may have been helped in the competition by sympathy votes.
Despite receiving positive remarks from the judges at his audition, Verraros began receiving largely negative feedback by the Top 30 semi-finals. Placed into Group 1 for that round he chose to reprise "When I Fall in Love". Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul both called this the best performance that Verraros had given on the series up to that point, but Cowell also called Verraros "ordinary" in comparison to that night's preceding performer, Tamyra Gray, and declared, "I think if you win this competition, we would have failed." Jessica Shaw of Entertainment Weekly called this the harshest critique that Cowell had given to any contestant on the series up to that point. First season co-host Brian Dunkleman recalled in a 2014 podcast overhearing the judges say that they were going to "nail Jim" on the night of the semi-finals. After the performance, Dunkleman offered Verraros reassurance, but during a commercial break, the series' executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe, purportedly took Dunkleman backstage and raged against him for not further demoralizing Verraros. Dunkleman recounted this as a partial explanation for why he quit the series after its first season.
Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Sun-Times speculated that the severity of Cowell's comments during the semi-finals may have increased audience support for Verraros, who was voted through to the top ten. Originally, Verraros was going to be cut anyway. In his 2011 tell-all book, American Idol: The Untold Story, Richard Rushfield revealed that a "judge's cut" was going to be introduced as a twist to the semi-finals. After the Group 1 results episode went off air, Cowell went to the three contestants who had been voted through to the finals and told Verraros that the judges were overruling his advancement to the next round. Rushfield wrote that "A stunned Verraros and his fellow contestants burst into tears" upon hearing the announcement. Before the twist could be aired, Lythgoe reversed the decision, arguing that the audience's preference should be respected. In 2020, Lythgoe and Verraros spoke together on a podcast and shared their own memories of the "judge's cut", clarifying that it actually occurred on the performance night rather than the results night.
His place in the top ten secure, Verraros planned to sing "Get Ready" by The Temptations for the first round of finals. The week's theme was Motown. Verraros won a coin toss against Kelly Clarkson, who also wanted to sing "Get Ready", but he switched course upon considering how much of the song is in falsetto. With a limited selection of Motown songs available for him to choose from, Verraros settled on "Easy" by The Commodores, even though he was unfamiliar with it. The judges were critical of the performance. Two contestants were voted off that week, and Verraros was the second eliminated, following EJay Day.
Performances EpisodeThemeSong choiceOriginal artistOrderResultAuditionAuditioner's Choice"When I Fall in Love"Nat King ColeN/AAdvancedHollywoodContestant's Choice"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"Marvin Gaye and Tammi TerrellN/AAdvancedTop 30Contestant's Choice"When I Fall in Love"Nat King Cole2AdvancedTop 10Motown"Easy"The Commodores7Eliminated
Public response When Verraros advanced into the top ten for American Idol's first season, Shaw (of Entertainment Weekly) wrote of the contestant, "I can't decide whether I love him or loathe him." She likened Verraros to a forgettable boy-band member, but also wrote that she had appreciated Verraros' decision to use sign language during his audition. After Verraros was voted off the series, Shaw wrote of him, "I genuinely felt bad for the guy...Of course, I could have told you all that he wasn't advancing on to the next round. You can't follow up stellar singers like Tamyra and Justin [Guarini] with a tepid rendition of 'Easy.'" Jim Derogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times was more favorable. After watching all of the top ten finalists perform on their nationwide tour, he suggested that Verraros should have placed seventh and commended him for "doing as well as anyone could" with poor singing-material (referring to "Easy"). Another positive review of Verraros came from Rick Shefchik of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, who wrote that Verraros sang a "tender version" of "When I Fall in Love" during the competition. Most critics, however, voiced negative opinions. Amy Amatangelo of the Boston Herald wrote that Verraros "lacked stage presence" and Eric Deggans of St. Petersburg Times called Verraros "obviously overmatched" among the other first season finalists. In his review of American Idol: Greatest Moments, Chuck Campbell of The Herald News was critical of Verraros' track on the album, writing "Verraros takes it too easy on his slack interpretation of Lionel Richie's Easy."
Post-Idol life and career 2002–2003: American Idol tour and related projects About a month after being voted out of the top ten on American Idol'''s first season, Verraros joined thirteen other former contestants from the series to perform at various events in Northwest Indiana. He participated in a group medley during American Idol's first season finale and a few weeks later, he reunited with all of the series' top thirty contestants for the American Idol in Las Vegas TV special. Verraros then participated through October and November in the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2002, along with his fellow top ten finalists. For each stop of the tour, he reprised his performance of "Easy" from the series.
Prior to competing on American Idol, Verraros had been open about his sexual orientation through an online journal. The Advocate, an American LGBT-interest magazine, discovered this journal while Verraros was on the series and contacted Fox with an interview request for the contestant. One day later, the journal was deleted. Verraros later explained to The Advocate that his journal had been removed because Fox did not want it to give him an unfair advantage in the competition. Verraros was open about his sexuality with the other American Idol finalists, whom he described as being very supportive.