Scott MacIntyre is Far More Than Just "The Blind Guy" on American Idol

What we know about Scott MacIntyre on American Idol isn't much. Of course, with all the various contestants, it is difficult to shove in a few minutes here and there of their lives to let the audience get a better look at their lives and accomplishments. But one thing is certain: the 23-year-old American Idol finalist is a musical phenomenon, whether most of America knows it or not.

Scott MacIntyre began playing piano at the age of three, learning by ear. By the age of five, he began playing classical piano. At the age 14, Scott was studying performance piano at Arizona State University. At 15, he was doing guest piano solos with the Phoenix Symphony.

According to his profile on ScottMacIntyre.com, he is the recipient of many awards for performing, composition, and vocal performance. He won the VSA Arts 2008 Young Soloists Award and has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Scott MacIntyre graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State at the age of 19. He was a Marshall and Fulbright Scholar and studied at the Royal College of Music in London until 2006, which is when he received his Masters Degree.

Scott has released six independently produced CDs. On his MySpace page, he lists Billy Joel, Bruce Hornsby, Tim McGraw, Bon Jovi, Jason Mraz, John Mayer, James Blunt, U2, John Legend, Coldplay, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Michael W Smith as some of his influences.

According to the Arizona Republic, Scott MacIntyre was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2005 and was forced to undergo dialysis treatment for ten months. After several donors proved not to be matches, Scott's piano professor's wife, Patricia Cosand, was able to provide him with a kidney in 2007. His old professor, Walter Cosand, jokingly refers to Scott as his wife's "singing kidney."

In 2006, he was named a Rhodes finalist. That same year, he was received at the White House by First Lady Laura Bush as one of three RFB&D scholarship winners. Scott has also studied under scholarship at Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Universitat Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Scott also does a lot of charity benefits. He donates performances for churches, conventions, charities, and athletic events.

And now he may just well become the next American Idol. Since coming on American Idol, Scott MacIntyre has been without his piano for many of his performances. However, he has not let that stop him. For his audition in Phoenix, he sang Billy Joel's "And So It Goes." He impressed the judges during Hollywood Week, finishing off with Daughtry's "Home."

On Tuesday evening, Scott MacIntyre sang Bruce Hornsby's "Mandolin Rain" in Round 3 of the American Idol Season 8 semifinals. There was no doubt he missed his keyboards, considering the piece's heavy reliance on piano. And there was no doubt he made it into the Final 12.

Scott MacIntyre has accomplished all of this while being legally blind. It is the one thing that the viewing audience has been told about him. He says he doesn't want to be remembered as "the blind guy," though. "But I know it's a quick way to refer to people, and in the end, if anyone remembers me, I hope they go look up 'the blind guy' and find it's Scott MacIntyre."

Win or lose the reality show competition, there is much about this young man to idolize.

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Sources:

AZCentral.com

ScottMacIntyre.com
"American Idol," Fox Television