A look back at American Idol contestants from Crystal Lake

When “American Idol” premieres Feb. 14, many eyes will be on Lakewood native Grace Kinstler, as she sings for a ticket to Hollywood.

But she isn’t the first person from the area, or even from Crystal Lake Central High School, to go on the popular singing show.

Crystal Lake native David Radford was one of the finalists in the fifth season of “American Idol.” Another Crystal Lake Central grad, Radford was only 17 when he auditioned for the show.

He ended up one of the Top 20 finalists in the 2006 season, which was ultimately won by Taylor Hicks.

Since then, Radford formed a critically acclaimed duo with his wife, Licia Radford, called The Gray Havens. The pair have released three full-length albums since their first, “Fire and Stone,” in 2015.

As the Northwest Herald previously reported, Radford auditioned in Chicago, at the urging of a friend who didn’t want to audition alone. Radford sang “Summer Wind” by Frank Sinatra, which then-American Idol judge Simon Cowell said was one of his favorite songs.

After “American Idol,” Radford earned a music education degree from the University of Illinois School of Music. When he returned to Crystal Lake, he taught private voice lessons.

At Radford’s audition, host Ryan Seacrest told him he was one of the first in line.

“I would say my voice is different because of the music that I do listen to and that I do love,” Radford said at the audition. “Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé and Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. All that rat pack age, you know, that’s totally who I am.”

Even during the show’s first season, a Crystal Lake contestant was among the ranks. Jim Verraros made it into the Top 10 of the competition.

During his audition, Verraros told the judges that both his parents are deaf. He sang “When I Fall in Love” by Nat King Cole, while also translating the song in American Sign Language.

“I’ve grown up being fluent in sign language. It’s kind of sad, though, because since I’ve been a singer so long my parents will never be able to hear me sing,” Verraros said. “It’s been one of my huge dreams just for them just one day to hear it, just magically just hear it, and it just doesn’t happen. But nevertheless, they are at every single one of my shows like whether they can hear or not.”

“You have a real nice, pure voice,” Paula Abdul told him when he was done.