Wesley Chapel Doubles Its Odds on American Idol

Zach D’Onofrio sings the Beatles song “Golden Slumbers” on American Idol

Two Wesley Chapel teenagers are headed to Hollywood Week on American Idol, thanks to auditions that earned unanimous votes from the judges.

Zach D’Onofrio, who also earned a golden ticket in 2018, and Alanis Sophia will begin competing this week as the show moves into the Hollywood phase.

Zach, a Wiregrass Ranch graduate, got his second golden ticket on Sunday’s show, when he played the piano and sang the Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers” for judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. 

In his first audition, Zach sang Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” — his voice transforming from nervous teenager to timeless crooner — and danced with Perry after giving each of the judges designer themed socks. Bryan was the first to recognize Zach, calling him “Sinatra Boy.”

“I’m back,” Zach said.

This time around, he joked that he had graduated from socks to “dressing up in my best sweater”, singing in a purple sweater with a flowered design. 

The judges seemed perplexed about what to make of a second version of D’Onofrio after his song. “Zachary, you’re like a math equation you just leave permanently up on the chalkboard,” Perry told him. “I’m still confused and would like to hear more.”

Zach had a surprise for song No. 2 — his girlfriend Catie Turner, who was a top-6 finisher in 2018. He called her out to sing with him on a second song, “Falling”, by Harry Styles.

Perry told Zach after the song there was something interesting about him, but that he reminded her of a turtle.

“A turtle sometimes hides in its shell,’’ she said. “But the turtle wins the race.”

“What we need now,” Ritchie added, “is for you to come out of your shell.”

And with that, Zach is headed back to Hollywood.

Like Zach, Alanis Sophia is another great voice with a great story.

She says she remembers watching “American Idol” as a child, peering between the bars on her crib. When she was 4-years old, her mother Kathy bought her a happy meal from McDonald’s so she could get the toy inside – a plastic blue and yellow American Idol microphone, with the show’s catchphrase – “You’re Going To Hollywood!” – on it.

Being on the show became one of Alanis’ dreams. On the Feb. 28 audition show, filmed in Los Angeles, Alanis wowed the judges — and millions watching at home — with a perfect, soaring rendition of Demi Lovato’s “Anyone.”

The performance left tears in the eyes of Perry,  and Richie and Bryan also appeared moved.

Alanis Sophia sings with the same plastic microphone that ignited her American Idol dream.

Alanis, who was named after pop singer Alanis Morissette, sang into that exact same Happy Meal plastic microphone during the audition that gave birth to her dream.

Pretty ironic, don’t ya think?

“In the midst of all of this noise, there’s the purity of your voice and your personality that requires nothing but exactly who you are,” Richie told her.

“It was real, and it was honest, and it was awesome to watch,” Bryan said.

Perry, who said she got into music because of Morissette, told Alanis that she was the best performer the judges had seen that day.

After calling her mom Kathy out, and making her cry with their praise of her daughter, the judges told Alanis that she was advancing to Hollywood. The teen grabbed her golden ticket and held it high proudly as she and Kathy left the room.

Alanis said she felt good and liked her chances after finishing the song.

“When I walked in there, I was like, holy cow,” Alanis told the Neighborhood News. “I was nervous at the beginning, but I sang my heart out. Once I started singing, I was in a zone.”

Although not technically currently a resident of Wesley Chapel — she lives in Dade City — Alanis has lived in Wesley Chapel and attended John Long Middle School for two years.

Alanis Sophia and her mother Kathy.

While Zach is still relatively new to singing, it’s not that big a surprise that a seasoned performer like Alanis would deliver such a performance. In fact, because her budding music and acting career kept her so busy, she had to move to online classes and is a 2019 Pasco eSchool graduate.

The oldest of three other siblings, Alanis is no stranger to the music business. When she was 11 years old, she finished second on “La Voz Kids,” the Spanish version of “The Voice.” 

She later became the face of VisitFlorida, made commercials and did some acting, and was signed to the Big Machine record label, which was looking to fuse her into a Latin-Country star. 

While that didn’t work out, Alanis continued to make music and build her brand online, with hundreds of thousands of followers between Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.

That may seem like a full career for many, but at 19, Alanis is just getting started. She looks at “American Idol” as an opportunity to break through as a star, but if not, she’ll keep pushing on. 

“I keep forgetting that I’m 19, and there is so much more left for me in this world,” she says.

That includes singing, touring, acting and who knows?

“All of that,” Alanis says. “I want to do it all.”

Now that the auditions are over, the show begins “Hollywood Week” this Sunday. The show airs at 8 p.m. on ABC-TV. 

Is tonight the night for Zach’s Second Shot At ‘American Idol’?

Wiregrass Ranch and “American Idol” alum Zach D’Onofrio (with girlfriend Catie Turner) has earned a second chance to be on the ABC-TV show.

If you remember Zach D’Onofrio’s first appearance on ABC-TV’s “American Idol” in 2018, we have news for you.

You ain’t seen nothing yet.

The kid that gave socks to the judges, danced with Katie Perry (see photo on next page) and then wowed with his voice — when it transformed from Kermit the Frog to Frank Sinatra to earn a golden ticket — is now older and wiser and back on the show.

The Wiregrass Ranch High graduate, who now attends Florida Southern College, will appear on the audition shows in the coming weeks. He did not appear in the season premiere, which aired locally on Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. on  WFTS-TV, or the second episode. He hasn’t been told when his episode will air. But he did leave a teaser on his Instagram this weekend.

So, what happens this time? A lot.

But we can’t tell you.

Just like last time, Zach has been sworn to secrecy until the episode airs. His family, a good friend and his girlfriend know, and we are privy to a few of Zach’s twists and turns this time around, so we could tell you, but then we’d have to…well, you know how the saying goes.

Zach’s return to “Idol” actually began in August when he signed up for Zoom auditions. The producers instantly recognized him, and he sang “No Fire” by S. Grant Parker while playing the ukelele, and the following round, sang the same song and also played piano while singing “Places We Won’t Walk” by Bruno Major.

Zach wasn’t sure he had passed, especially when August passed, and so did September. Then, a friend received a rejection email, so Zach thought he might still be alive. In mid-October, he finally got word that he was headed to Ojai, CA — which is in Ventura County about 90 minutes northwest of Los Angeles — for live auditions the first week of November, and mum’s been the word ever since.

“It’s kind of fun keeping the secret,” Zach says.

Although it was his second time in front of judges Lionel Ritchie, Luke Bryan and Perry, Zach says he still felt a little trepidation about his second chance.

“I was pretty nervous seeing the judges again because it’s been so long,” he says. “When I walked out, they were like, ‘Oh, we know Zach.’” He sang “Golden Slumbers” by the Beatles. 

“And, that’s pretty much all I can tell you,” he says, chuckling.

A lot has changed since Zach, then a squeaky-voiced 16-year-old who had only started singing a year before, was cut following the first competition in Los Angeles.

He returned to Wesley Chapel, won a few singing competitions, graduated from Wiregrass Ranch and was accepted into the University of South Florida, where he was going to study biomedical science and become a doctor one day.

But, “American Idol” had awakened something in him. He wanted to hone his singing skills. He wanted to help make music. He wanted to follow what had become his passion.

After one year at USF, Zach, now 20, transferred to Florida Southern and is now a music management major. He says he would like to manage artists one day, help them with auditions and, of course, cut his own first album. 

“I think only reason I wanted to be a doctor was because they make a lot of money, but would that make me happy?,” Zach says. “(Being on) ‘American Idol’ made me happy. Singing made me happy. I liked the performing and talking to fans. So why not commit to music fully?”

Why not try “American Idol” again?

The last thing Zach told us in 2018 after his surprisingly quick end on the show was that he was encouraged by fellow contestants to try again — and he told them he would. And, that thought has always stuck in his head. 

His girlfriend, Catie Turner, was on the show with Zach in 2018 and finished sixth. While she can’t compete again, she never stopped encouraging Zach to try.

“It’s always been kind of stuck in the back of my head that I would go back and try again,” Zach says. “It was inevitable. I want to prove to myself that I can do it again. My goal was to make it farther this time than last time.”

Zach says being in California during the pandemic was concerning, especially making the trip out there. But, with Covid-19 tests every other day, and the threat of being sent home if you tested positive, Zach says the auditions were smooth. Each contestant was encouraged to stay confined to their room. 

“It was kind of like house arrest,” Zach jokes. “But I felt safe the whole time. Everyone wore masks. You won’t see people wearing them while on stage, but anyone who wasn’t singing at the time had masks on.”

Zach says people still recognize him in public as the “American Idol,” though most seem to remember his affinity for socks. But his “socks appeal” is gone, and this season’s version of Zach might be best described as “sweater late than never,” as he makes his return with a different style. 

 As for the rest, Zach says you’ll have to tune in on Sunday nights.

Wesley Chapel’s Zach D’Onofrio’s ‘American Idol’ Quest Ends In Los Angeles

ach D’Onofrio is surprised after being eliminated in his journey to become the next “American Idol.” But, he says the experience was one he will never forget.

Wiregrass Ranch junior Zach D’Onofrio’s hopes of being the next “American Idol” are officially over, after taking the shy Wesley Chapel 16-year-old on an incredible whirlwind journey that started at auditions at Florida Hospital Center Ice here in Wesley Chapel and led him to Orlando, New York and California.

Unofficially, his dream ended Jan. 21 in Hollywood, CA. But, to those not in his immediate family, Zach’s end came March 26, when the last episode he will appear in was shown on ABC-TV.

“It was a really great experience,” said Zach, the day after the final episode.

Like he did on the “Idol” season premiere, Zach had a nice spot on the March 26 episode, which focused on his friendship with fellow contestant, the quirky Catie Turner. While Turner pined for the young, good-looking hopefuls on the show, her affections were mostly aimed at Zach.

“He’s funny, he’s nice, he dresses cool,” Catie said.

“Me and Catie got really close on the show, and I definitely made a lot of good friends that I will never forget,” Zach says. “I am very thankful I could meet all these great people.”

Like Zach, Catie transforms herself when it comes to singing. She turned in a sterling performance of the Beatles’ “Come Together,” and then cheered on Zach from backstage.

Zach sang 45 seconds of Michael Buble’s “Cry Me A River” (though it was edited to about 15 second for TV) on his final appearance. Cameras showed the other contestants expressing shock (as most people do) when Zach’s squeaky voice gave way to his much bigger and deeper singing voice.

When it came time for elimination, the 10 contestants in Zach’s group were called to the Dolby Theater stage. While the show made it look like three were asked to step forward, it was actually seven of the 10. The three that weren’t asked to step forward, including Zach, were eliminated by celebrity judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, who famously danced with Zach during his audition in New York.

Zach was never told why he was not chosen. He walked off the stage with the other eliminated contestants, did a brief confessional-type interview that aired and showed him fighting back tears, and then it was over.

He and his mother Darci ate at a nearby diner with $25 gift cards they had been given, and packed up their suitcases.

“It hit me pretty hard,” Zach says. “One day you’re there and they are explaining the rules, the day after that you sing, and the next morning you are on your way back home. It all happened so fast.”

Zach quickly put the disappointment behind him.

“It was nice to have my mom with me, sharing the experience. It definitely helped me out,” he said. “I bounced back really quickly. I felt like I sang my best. I felt like I didn’t do anything wrong. There’s no reason to be sad.”

Back home in Wesley Chapel and at school, Zach said he found lots of support.

“A lot of people have told me I should have gotten through,” Zach says. “My teachers watched it too, and they were confused about why I didn’t get through. I don’t know why, which kind of sucks.”

But, Zach says he plans on building on his experience. When he started, he had 400 followers on Instagram but now he has an audience of 12,000. He says he will continue posting videos on YouTube, and he hopes to bring back the more intimate sound made famous by crooners like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and, more currently, by Harry Connick, Jr., and Michael Buble.

He said he has talked with New Jersey’s Austin Georgio, who is currently on NBC-TV’s “The Voice” singing competition as that show’s resident crooner, about collaborating on a project.

And, before he left Hollywood, he was told by other contestants he should try again next year.

“Why not?,” Zach says. “If they get a second season, I plan on trying to be there.”

Look for an announcement about a possible local performance by Zach on our “Neighborhood News” Facebook page and at WCNeighborhoodNews.com.

Is This Your Next AMERICAN IDOL?

Zach D’Onofrio is good at keeping secrets.

For years, he was a squeaky-voiced kid who sang quietly in the church chorus, who ran the lights at his family’s Dreamhouse Theatre, a kid happy to work behind the scenes in the midst of his song-happy family of performers.

Then one night, at the age of 15, he called his family into the living room of their Seven Oaks home.

“Mom and Dad, I want you to hear something,” he told them.

Sensing something dramatic was about to happen, Darci, his mother, pulled out her phone and started recording.

Zach started singing. Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight.”

Everyone’s world changed that night.

“When I heard his voice like that, I started bawling, just crying,” Darci says.

His sister, who was in her room, heard her brother sing and started screaming, and came rushing into the living room.

“It was like, whaaaaaaat?,” says Bryan, his father.

Zach has always been afraid of what people would say if he sang for them. He told his parents he wasn’t sure he should share his voice.

“You need to share this with the world,” Darci tearfully told him.

And he has, from one “American Idol” audition to the next, from Wesley Chapel to Orlando to New York.

But, how about Hollywood? Well, no one is saying.

Zach D’Onofrio is good at keeping secrets.

Zach and Darci, before he entered the room to sing for the celebrity judges.

Once America’s hottest television show, “Idol” is back for the start of its comeback season this Sunday. March 11 , 8 p.m., on ABC-TV (WFTS-TV Channel 11 locally).

At the D’Onofrio home, friends and family will gather in that living room again, this time sharing Zach’s voice with the world. Everyone will see the audition for the first time, including Zach.

“I am kind of nervous about how I’ll look,” he says, sitting under a green shade at the Starbucks on S.R. 56 near the Shops at Wiregrass, surrounded by a caffeinated crowd that has no idea that, possibly, the next “American Idol” sits among them.

A junior at Wiregrass Ranch High, Zach was one of the hundreds to audition for “Idol” at Florida Hospital Center Ice back in August 2017. He was one of 25 to continue on to auditions in Orlando two weeks later. And, he also was one of 16 who flew to New York City in October for a chance to sing in front of this season’s “Idol” judges — pop/soul legend Lionel Richie, country star Luke Bryan and perky pop performer Katy Perry.

“I can post about it now (on Facebook) that I auditioned, and can tell people that I have gone to New York for the show,” Zach says. “A lot of kids know that, like my close friends, but they don’t know anything past that. Some kids sitting next to me in classes don’t know. People don’t know that I danced with Katy Perry.”

* * *

Wait
what?

His father just shakes his head and smiles. Yes, it really happened. It only took 10 seconds of “The Way You Look Tonight” to drop open the jaws of the judges, and another 10 seconds after that, Perry was dancing her way towards Zach. Richie stood and danced as well, and Bryan couldn’t help but join in.

Zach maintained his poise, and continued singing, even as he and Perry danced together.

“I just kept going,” he says. “We were dancing. I twirled her, I dipped her, things like that. Kept singing.”

“Dipped her,” says Zach’s dad, shaking his head and beaming proudly, with maybe a tinge of jealousy. “My man!”

If it wasn’t his voice that prompted Perry to dance with Zach, maybe it was his “socks appeal.” Socks are kind of Zach’s thing. He has a collection of 50 pairs or so of uniquely designed footwear. He brought pairs for each judge — American flag socks for show host Ryan Seacrest, skulls for Richie, roosters for Bryan.

For Perry, her socks depicted cats sitting on rainbows shooting lasers from their eyes, which sounds like a description of some of her videos. It was, Zach says, the perfect choice, and she wore them on her hands while she danced with him.

“It broke the ice,” Zach says. “It definitely made things easier.”

* * *

It is only natural that Zach would discover his talent for singing.

Bryan and Darci met at a concert at the Happy Gospel Center in Bradenton. Bryan was in a band with other family members called Southern Praise, and they were the headliners that day. He was the eligible bachelor of the group, and his sister joked to the crowd that, “if you can feed him, you can have him.”

Darci thought Bryan was a wonderful singer. When it was her turn to sing later that day, she was nervous thinking he might be watching. She wrote him a letter afterward, he wrote back, and one year later, they were married.

Zach and his older sister, Taylor, were born into music. Taylor embraced it, performing and singing at a young age, and Zach remembers singing “Oh, Holy Night” with his family at a Christmas church service when he was eight.

Bryan, Taylor, Zach and Darci before a Dreamhouse Theatre production.

But, for the most part, he hung back and mostly played youth soccer, even making the junior varsity team at Wiregrass Ranch High.

Four years ago, his parents, who both work full-time at North Tampa Behavioral Health on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, started the Dreamhouse Theatre. They performed shows at various locales before settling at their current location in Lutz.

Zach was working the lights for a production of the “Little Shop of Horrors” in October 2016,  when he was struck by how much fun all the performers seemed to be having. He decided afterward he would surprise his family with a Frank Sinatra song in the living room that night.

After that, Zach took his first role as Benjamin in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Bryan played Joseph, and Darci and Taylor also were in the production.

“Oh my gosh, it was so exciting seeing him getting into it,” Bryan says. “He had a solo in the show, and just nailed it. I was so excited to see him shine.”

Zach took on roles as one of the three little pigs in “Shrek,” and played Lord Farquaad in “Shrek The Musical Jr.,” sitting on his knees the whole show. “That was probably my favorite,” he says. “I wondered why I waited so long to do this.”

At Wiregrass Ranch, he joined the chorus this school year, ready to refine the talent he had unleashed the year before. His teacher originally thought by the sound of his speaking voice that Zach would be singing tenor, until he showed off the rich, deep sound that surprises so many.

“He’s very talented,  but it wasn’t something I heard from the very, very beginning,’’ says Wiregrass Ranch fifth-year choral director Solangi Santiago.  “Every now and then, though, we could see that this kid had something special.”

Then, one day, a friend sent Zach a link to sign up to audition for “Idol” at Florida Hospital Center Ice, where he took his first steps in the hope of becoming the next big thing.

* * *

Given a choice of audition spots after getting through the Wesley Chapel and Orlando stages of the audition process, Zach selected New York, an obvious pick, considering his crooner style and affection for Sinatra, which he developed after buying old vinyl records of the legend on shopping excursions with his father.

It was Darci, however, who got to go on the Sunday-through-Wednesday trip with him, the first trip to New York for both of them, and they stared wide-eyed at everything around them for three days. They visited the Statue of Liberty and the 9-11 Memorial, Facetiming the best moments with Bryan and Taylor.

“I made him sing ‘New York New York’ in the middle of Times Square,” Darci says.

Outside the judges room at the Hotel Pennsylvania in midtown Manhattan, Darci was all nerves, while inside, her teenage son was taking a giant bite of the Big Apple — dancing with a pop princess while impressively, considering the circumstances, remembering all the words to his song.

“I didn’t faint,” Zach joked.

For three minutes, Darci strained to hear her son sing. The television cameras were trained on her, and she looked at them and asked: “Have you ever had a mom pass out before?”

What little she says she could hear of Zach, she liked.

“He sounded incredible, like never before,” Darci says.

Afterward, he told her he thought it was his best audition yet.

Did he have a golden ticket in his hand when he told her?

“You have to tune in March 11,” he says, smiling. “You may see me on the show.”

Zach D’Onofrio is good at keeping secrets.

American Idol Hopefuls Fill Center Ice With Tunes

Wesley Chapel resident and New Tampa teacher Brittany Collins earned a ticket to the “American Idol” auditions in Orlando with 45 seconds of Adele’s “Fire To The Rain” at the “Tampa Bay Idol” auditions at FHCI! (Photo: ABC Action News)

The first time Brittany Collins tried out for FOX-TV’s “American Idol,” it ended with her in tears and a long, sad drive home from Atlanta. She had been waiting for a second chance for more than a decade.

She never imagined that chance would come at an ice rink right around the corner from where she lived in Wesley Chapel.

On Aug. 12, Collins, 28, lined up with at least 400 other starry-eyed hopefuls waiting for her chance to shine at “Tampa Bay Idol,” an audition for the new incarnation of “American Idol,” which is now going to air on ABC-TV. The local tryout was hosted by Channel 28-WFTS-TV’s “ABC Action News” at Florida Hospital Center Ice, right here in the “Chap.”

The tryouts were an all-day affair – capped by a night-time concert on one of the complex’s five rinks by the lucky ticket winners — as those who had registered online for the 400 available slots rolled in and out of two audition rooms hoping to impress local celebrity judges.

Those who got the thumbs-up were awarded a “front-of-the-line” certificate to the tryouts in Orlando, as ”American Idol” is being re-booted by ABC in an effort to regain its former glory as one of television’s hottest shows.

Once a juggernaut that produced stars like Carrie Underwood, Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson — but no one significant in its final years — producers are hoping hosts Katy Perry and Lionel Richie can re-stoke that interest.

After belting through 45 seconds of Adele’s “Fire To The Rain,” Collins had her ticket to the front of the line for the Aug. 17 audition at the Disney Springs Resort in Orlando, where…we hear…that one Wesley Chapel resident and two “Tampa Bay Idol” contestants just may have made it to the next round of auditions. But, that’s all we can say at this time.

“I had nerves,’’ Collins said. “At this point in my life, I want it more than ever. But I am so happy with where I am in my life. If I don’t get through, I’m okay.”

Collins, a third-grade teacher at Heritage Elementary in New Tampa,  joked that she didn’t feel that way when she was 16. “American Idol” was hot, and she and her friend Adam Jahr drove to Atlanta to chase a dream she has had since she started singing and dancing at age 3. More than 20,000 people were there, “just long lines and lines of people,’’ she says, and she was terrified.

She remembers that her voice shook as she sang Carrie Underwood’s “We’re Young And Beautiful.” The judges declined to move her on. Someone from the show came over to clip the wristhand she had been given.

“They just cut your wristband and sent you in the other direction,’’ Collins said somewhat somberly. “Very severe.”

By comparison, Collins said, the Wesley Chapel auditions, were a dream. They let her mom Teresa in the room with her as she sang. “They were set up so nicely,’’ Collins said.

Caloi Koelndorfer

Caloi Koelndorfer, a 16-year-old junior at Wiregrass Ranch High, couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she showed off her winning ticket.

Standing in the hallway with her mother Christy, she waited for some of her friends to make their way into the judges’ room.

“It was awesome,’’ Caloi said. “I just let it go and tried to have fun.”

Caloi sang “How Can it Be” by contemporary Christian music singing star Lauren Daigle. One of the judges was Jeremy Risotto, a Brandon resident who finished in the top 13 in Season 11 of “Idol.” Oh, and Risotto was one of Caloi’s favorites.

“I love him,’’ Caloi said. “I saw him at a church choir event, and he was my favorite in Season 11.”

Caloi said she started out shaky, but hit her notes when it counted. She has been singing in the chorus since her fifth-grade year at Sand Pine Elementary, and for the outgoing teenager, trying out for Tampa Bay Idol was a no-brainer.

“She sings everywhere and anywhere,’’ Christy said, laughing.

Caloi then broke out into song for those still waiting for their chance, as someone recorded her on their cell phone. The line of people applauded. Risotto left the room for a quick break and when he returned he popped his head back out and nodded towards Caloi.

“She’s excellent,’’ he said.

We saw that Collins didn’t made it out of Orlando. She wrote on her Facebook page that it was “TOUGH” and even with her pass, she was one of the last 100 auditions of the day, waiting behind people who did not have a pass. She waited in line in the sun for four hours, and still thought she “crushed her song.”

But she wasn’t picked, and was back in the classroom Monday, sharing her experience with the kids. “At least I tried, gave it my best, didn’t pass out from the heat and didn’t mess my song up with nerves,’” she wrote on Facebook.

According to WFTS-ABC Action News director of multimedia marketing Dennis Elsbury, if a contestant made it out of Orlando — and roughly 40 made it to Orlando from the Wesley Chapel audition — they would not be allowed to tell anyone.