American Idol" contestant Deandre Kamele Brackensick, the California teen with deep roots in Hawaiian music, appears in a video on YouTube that has fans rapturous.
In a setting so different from the laser lights and fog machines of the "American Idol" stage, Brackensick stands in a family’s small living room, a cluttered china hutch as his backdrop, as he sings to a baby girl and her parents. He accompanies himself on the ukulele while singing "I Kona," a place-name song known as one of the most challenging in the genre of Hawaiian falsetto singing.
By the end of the week, the year-old clip had more than 50,000 views. It is not the first clip that comes up when you search for Brackensick’s name. It’s not even on the first page of suggestions. It isn’t hidden or obscure, but more like the sort of clip someone has to tell you about before you find it. Still, it has more hits than some of the clips from "American Idol" where he’s singing "Master Blaster" or "Reasons."
The video is grainy and the sound is recorded with the in-camera microphone, but the footage is deeply moving for the quality and authenticity of Brackensick’s voice and, mostly, for the baby’s reaction. She is mesmerized. The camera never gets in close to the baby’s face, but still, you can see that she is completely connected to the singer and the song. When a tiny child is so quietly focused, you know something magical is happening.
"Come on, baby, kaholo," her father says at one point during the song as he lifts her up as if she’s dancing.
The clip has drawn comments from all over.
"I am voting for him from South Africa," one person wrote. "He is amazing and I wish he could come sing in Soweto."
"Greetings from Nashville! This young man is awesome!" another person posted.
And there are comments from Hawaiian music fans who are just proud of this kid, just happy and proud.
"I’d like to see anybody else on ‘American Idol’ try to sing that, ha ha," one wrote.
"Really, I’ve never felt so much envy and enjoyment at the same time. You sing if anybody is around, and if no one else is there. You sing to pass the time when no one is watching you. … It is not a passion for us. It is breathing," a singer from Pauoa commented.
Some people have even requested songs in their comments, hoping Brackensick will post a video of their favorite mele from long ago. And perhaps the best comment of all:
"Is it weird that I listen to this every day?"
Brackensick may never get to sing "I Kona" or "He U‘i" or "Na Wiliwili" on "American Idol," but it’s wonderful to know that he CAN, and that his talent is drawing new audiences to this style of Hawaiian music.
The clip is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gieo6KsRP6I.
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Reach Lee Cataluna at lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
