Billboard

Born on February 8, 1983 and a native of Crystal Lake, Illinois, Jim Verraros auditioned for the first season of American Idol at the suggestion of a friend while he was attending Columbia College as a musical theater major in Chicago.

Jim was undoubtedly one of the most talented and talked about contestants to ever appear on the hit Fox TV show American Idol. Jim placed 9th on the first season and become one of the most memorable contestants to ever appear on the hit show. Because he was raised by deaf parents, he is fluent in American Sign Language. Jim is of Greek (father) and German, Irish, French and English (mother) descent. As a child, Jim ironically excelled in singing and acting at a very early age so much so, that school music teachers had the task of explaining his talent to his parents who were naturally unaware of Jim's abilities.

After the show ended, Jim won the hearts all across America as a featured performer on the 2002 American Idols Live Tour which played to sold out stadiums in 30 cities across the country. Jim was also a contributing artist on the Certified Gold "American Idol: Greatest Moments" album along with 2 time Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson.

But his popularity really soared after he came "out" in The Advocate in January 2003. "I needed to be true to myself and embrace the reality that people are just people, and no one should ever be judged based on their sexuality. I knew of the risks associated within the music community for being true to my fans and myself. But, this disclosure does not define me, my music, or my career, as I am a human being first and foremost", says Jim.

Jim's indie-CD, Unsaid & Understood, won an Out Music Award: Outstanding New Recording Debut - Male. Winners were announced on June 13, 2004 in NYC. On April 26, 2005, Jim released his mainstream debut, "Rollercoaster" on Koch Records. The album garnered a top 20 Billboard Dance Hit, "You Turn It On," along with a breakout hit; "You're Getting Crazy." Along with this debut, his film "Eating Out," was released on DVD through Ariztical Entertainment, and has sold more than 50,000 copies to date. The film also included three songs performed by Jim, "I Want You," "Visions Of You," and "Welcome To Hollywood."

Jim is now recording and writing for the follow up to his debut album, "Rollercoaster," (TBA) and has his second film, the sequel to "Eating Out," called, "Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds," reprising his role as Kyle. The film has made its way to film festivals all across the world. The DVD has officially been released on May 29th, 2007.

The possibilities for Jim's career are inevitably endless. With a knack for reinvention and sex appeal, his demographic is incredibly vast and is a true inspiration to many. Being diverse in talent, Jim would like to have definitive careers in both the independent film community as well as a strong place in the music industry. The future seems bright for this young 24-year-old, and with the accomplishments he's already made his own, anything is possible with Jim Verraros. Stay tuned.

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Idol- 1/15/08 Premiere Jan 15

Okay, so before I go into what my thoughts were on tonight's kick-off episode, I have to admit that I missed the entire first hour because I wanted to get in a run at the gym, so forgive me.

So here we are, once again, Season 7 in the city of "Brotherly Love."

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