Vered "Didi" Benami (; born October 25, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and television host. After placing tenth on the ninth season of American Idol, she released her debut single, "Gasoline", in 2012 and the album Reverie in 2014. In 2023, she began co-hosting the AXS series Banded.
Early life and education
Benami was born in New York before moving to Tennessee at the age of seven. Her father is Israeli and her first name, Vered (ורד) means "rose" in Hebrew. She spent most of her formative years in Knoxville, Tennessee. Benami was raised Jewish.
Benami is a 2005 graduate of West High School. She started singing in the fifth grade. In school, she performed the role of Marty in the musical "Grease" and frequently performed the national anthem in front of various crowds.
On American Idol, Benami said she was a cheerleader and mascot at Bearden Middle School.
Benami attended Nashville's Belmont University before moving to California. This move followed the death of her close friend and roommate, Rebecca Joy Lear, in an automobile accident driving from Nashville to her Kansas home during the Christmas holiday of her first year. They wrote songs together, mostly on Lear's album, but Benami recently said that she would pursue Lear's music first and would most likely upload Benami version of Lear's songs.
American Idol
Benami auditioned for American Idol in Los Angeles, California, where she has lived for four years. She has credited her friend, Rebecca Joy Lear, as one of the reasons she auditioned for American Idol.
At Benami's audition she sang The Beatles' song "Hey Jude". The judges all loved her performance, including guest judge Avril Lavigne. She became a front-runner in the competition following her well-praised performance of Katharine McPhee's song "Terrified" (co-written by Idol judge Kara DioGuardi) on the first solo of Hollywood Week, where Simon Cowell said "she was good". During the group week of Hollywood week Benami's group sang Alicia Keys' "No One". On the second solo performance of Hollywood week, she sang Sarah McLachlan's "Angel".
In the top 24 performances, Benami sang Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am" where the judges did not love her rendition of it, saying she has a good voice but it was rather "sound-alike". In the top 20 performance, she sang Bill Withers's "Lean on Me", where once again the judges did not love her performance, with Randy Jackson saying it was pitchy and Simon Cowell said it was like a screeching cat. During the top 16 performances, however, she made a comeback with the song Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon", with Kara DioGuardi adding that that performance has the "singer/songwriter" vibe that she loves on Benami's performance of "Terrified".
On March 31, 2010, Benami was eliminated from the competition and finished in 10th place. Despite an encore of "Rhiannon" for the judges' save, the judges chose not to save her, though, Simon Cowell stated it was "a million times better" than her performance the night before.
Performances/results
American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010
On the American Idols Live! Tour 2010, Benami sang two songs, Katharine McPhee's "Terrified" and Kyler England's "Lay It on Me". She also sang in the group performance of Miley Cyrus's "The Climb" with Aaron Kelly, Katie Stevens, Andrew Garcia, Tim Urban, and Siobhan Magnus.
Benami appeared with Jason Reeves on Jason's Official Twitter page where he thanked her for giving life to the song. They later sang "Terrified" with Jason on the guitar.
Promising to fulfill Rebecca's musical dream, Benami released and sang her version of Rebecca's songs "Lullaby" and "No Destination" on her official Myspace page.
Post-Idol career
Benami attended interviews such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show after her elimination. She also appeared on various other shows during her post-Idol tour including the Late Show with David Letterman, The Today Show, and Access Hollywood. On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Show, and Access Hollywood, Benami performed the Kara DioGuardi-penned "Terrified", her song made famous from American Idol's Hollywood Week.