Abner Juda Gil (born July 5, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor, who placed eighth during the first season of American Idol. Following his participation on the Fox reality series, he released two mixtapes, as well as several standalone singles. He also starred in the 2005 independent film Destination Fame. Throughout his career, Gil has collaborated with a variety of artists. He was the first Latino to ever place on American Idol, and several of his songs are in Spanish.
The 2002 compilation album American Idol: Greatest Moments, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, features Gil covering "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder as one of its tracks. A few months after competing on American Idol, Gil went on a nationwide tour with the other season one finalists. His first radio single, "She's Hot" (featuring the artist Max-A-Million), was written for the film Destination Fame, although the song was released in 2003, two years before the film's premiere.
Upon founding his own recording studio, Juda Music Productions, Gil began a career in R&B, which culminated with the 2011 release of his first mixtape, Love Me Later. Gil's second mixtape, Life, Death & Resurrection, marked a transition to Christian music and was released in 2013.
Early life
Abner Juda Gil, known professionally as AJ Gil, was born on July 5, 1984, in San Diego, California, to Martin and Teresa Gil. He is the fourth of ten children. His father, a minister and a missionary, moved the family to Mexico, when Gil was four years old. While there, they struggled financially. Gil assisted his family in selling street food and performing manual labor jobs. His family returned to the United States a few years later, and they settled in Tacoma, Washington, after living in a van for several months.
Gil first began playing the drums and guitar around the age of seven. He learned how to play the piano soon after. Growing up, he would often perform in his father's church. One of Gil's aunts was a regular performer on The Lawrence Welk Show, and around the time of Gil's participation on American Idol, one of Gil's cousins was a backup singer for Marc Anthony. Before going onto the Fox reality series, Gil had never been to a concert, despite his family connections to the music industry. Gil has cited Brian McKnight and Stevie Wonder as two of his primary musical influences.
American Idol
Gil attended the auditions for American Idol first season in Seattle. At the time, he was a seventeen year old rising senior at Lincoln High School. Initially unsure whether he would have a means of transportation, he was one of the last people to try out that day, and as he did not have a song prepared ahead of time, he chose "The Star-Spangled Banner", due to his familiarity with singing it in school. His rendition was well received by the judges and earned a standing ovation from Randy Jackson.
Upon advancing into the Top 30 semi-finals, Gil was placed into Group 2. He sang "All or Nothing" by O-Town. Both Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell complimented Gil's voice after the performance, but criticized his stage presence. Despite this lukewarm response from the judges, Gil was voted through to the Top 10. This made him the first Latino finalist in the history of American Idol. In-between his semi-final performance and the first week of the finals, Gil turned eighteen. He went on to perform "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder for the Top 10 Motown-themed round and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" by Marvin Gaye for the Top 8 1960s-themed round. The judges continued to offer faint praise, and Gil finished in eighth place.
Throughout his time on American Idol, Gil was often compared to various boy-band members, and he was described by Billboard as "a relatively reserved singer with teen-idol looks." Writing for the Boston Herald, Monica Collins considered Gil and fellow contestant EJay Day to be "'indistinguishable N Sync-ish names and faces". In an article for The Plain Dealer, Clint O'Connor wrote that Gil hailed from the "Backstreet Boys-'N Sync-wannabe collection." Jim Derogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times called Gil "a boy-band clone", and Chris Macias of the Sacramento Bee noted that Gil's popularity on the series could be partially attributed to a "boy-band look".