Von Smith

Von Smith
Background information
Birth name	Vaughn Lee Smith
Born	June 15, 1986 (1986-06-15) Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Genres	Pop, R&B
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Youtube personality
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Kon Live Distribution (2006-2009)[citation needed]
Website	http://www.vonleesmith.com/

Vaughn Lee "Von" Smith (born June 15, 1986) is an American singer and internet personality.

Career

Smith gained some success via his YouTube videos. These garnered him national attention, which led to an appearance on The View on 27 February 2007. Soon thereafter he was offered, and eventually signed, a recording contract with Kon Live Distribution.

In the fall of 2010 he appeared in the concert revue For The Record: Quentin Tarantino in Los Angeles, presented by ROCKLA for Show at Barre. It ran from August 12, 2010, to October 30, 2010. Also starring Jenna Leigh Green, Autumn Reeser, Ty Taylor, and Audra Mae. Then from November 2010 through January 2011 Von starred in Show At Barre's For The Record: John Hughes. Also starring Barrett Foa, Tracie Thoms and Ty Taylor.

American Idol

Smith auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol, with mixed reviews from the judges. However, they accepted him for the Hollywood Round. During the Hollywood Round, Von's version of "If the Rain Must Fall" caused Simon Cowell to call it "indulgent nonsense." The other judges overlooked Simon's comment, and accepted Von into the Top 36. He was eliminated on March 4, 2009 after singing "You're All I Need to Get By", but was brought back to wild card performance on March 5, picking "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" as his next song, but was eliminated once again.

Performances/Results

Week #

Theme

Song choice

Original artist

Order #

Result

Audition

N/A

"Over the Rainbow"

Judy Garland

N/A

Advanced

Hollywood

First Solo

"If the Rain Must Fall"

James Morrison

N/A

Advanced

Hollywood

Group Performance

[not aired]

-

N/A

Advanced

Hollywood

Second Solo

"Sir Duke"

Stevie Wonder

N/A

Advanced

Top 36/Group 3

Billboard Hot 100

"You're All I Need to Get By"

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

1

Eliminated

Wild Card

N/A

"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"

Elton John

4

Eliminated

• ^1 Smith was initially eliminated, as he did not receive enough votes to advance immediately into the Finals. However, on the March 4 results show, Randy Jackson selected him as one of the 8 Wild Card contenders.

External links

• Von Smith at Myspace
• The View recap