"American Idol" fans may remember DeAndre Kamele Brackensick as one of the most popular contestants of the 2012 season, when as a 17-year-old he impressed judges and audiences with his falsetto voice and long curly locks.

Brackensick, who was born and raised in San Jose, Calif., also developed a passionate "Idol" following in Hawaii when his interest in hula and Hawaiian music was revealed. What many didn’t realize was that despite his "local" looks and Hawaiian middle name, the young singer is actually of Caucasian and African-American descent.

After he finished eighth on the show, Hawaii lost track of him, even though he moved to the islands in 2013.

Fans will get a rare opportunity to see what Brackensick has been up to when he guests with Raiatea Helm in her Mother’s Day show May 10 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

"I’ve been doing a lot of things but not so much on the island, though, so it was nice when Raiatea called me up and offered me the opportunity to perform," Brackensick said during a break from rehearsals with Helm and pianist Kit Ebersbach in the latter’s downtown recording studio April 23.

The singer is almost too busy to perform in Hawaii on a regular basis. He works three jobs, takes classes at Leeward Community College and dances with kumu hula Kapua Dalire’s Halau Ka Liko Pua o Kalaniakea.

"I’ve been doing a lot of stuff in the mainland, on the East Coast and overseas. I have a tour coming up in Australia and New Zealand in June, but what I do here is mostly little gigs."

Brackensick will be singing "The Most Beautiful Girl" and harmonizing with Helm on "The Closer I Get to You." He and Helm sounded concert-ready during their rehearsal.

Brackensick, now 20, said singing with Helm in the Royal’s Monarch Room and sharing the stage with Makana and 2014 Miss Aloha Hula Ke‘alohilani Serrao makes this one of the biggest shows he’s done in Hawaii.

That Hawaiian music was one of Brackensick’s first loves is an accident of birth. His father’s best friend in San Jose had grown up in Hawaii, and DeAndre and his young parents were "adopted" by the man’s family. Brackensick grew up listening to Hawaiian music and began dancing hula at the age of 8. He started experimenting with leo kiekie (Hawaiian falsetto) when he was 9.

Three of his favorite Hawaiian falsetto vocalists are Genoa Keawe, Dennis Pavao and George Helm — Raiatea’s uncle.

"Something about that sound just caught my ear, and it stuck," he said. "Even my R&B is based off of Hawaiian (falsetto). You can hear the ha‘i (break) at times because that’s what I started singing with. Some people love it and some people don’t, but I don’t care. You’re going to hear what I’m going to do anyway."

He met Helm four years ago when she was on a promotional tour for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.

"They had each artist go to a different city, and San Jose was where I was taken," Helm recalled. "I was warming up and I see this very cute, young teenage boy, and he was going off with his voice, singing. I knew already that was a diamond in the rough."

"I’d been fan-boying (on her) like forever," Brackensick said of that first meeting.

Helm saw him perform on "American Idol" and was impressed by what she saw.

"I heard that Hawaiian music was a part of his passion as well, but I know his strength is R&B and his falsetto is out of this world. I wanted to feature that in my show, and I’m so proud that I finally get to work with him," she said.

Brackensick is working on a recording project with Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning record producer Shawn Pimental featuring Hawaiian and R&B music.

"I try to maintain as much (Hawaiian) as I can, but as far as opportunities to sing, it’s more the R&B stuff that comes along," he said.

Looking back at the hysteria that surrounded his time on "American Idol," Brackensick said he managed to keep it in perspective.

"You’ve got to know that it’s a TV show before it’s a singing competition," he said. "We didn’t see much of the judges, but Steven Tyler supported me and so did J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez). Steven lives part time on Maui, and he was really nice."