Vancouver’s Seavey still in running on ‘American Idol’

Vancouver’s Daniel Seavey has made it to another round of “American Idol.”

In a live broadcast on Fox on Thursday night, the 15-year-old Union High School sophomore performed “Lost Stars,” a love ballad from the movie “Begin Again.” He wanted to play piano during his performance, but his coaches said that he would be looking down too much. Instead, he played guitar and was backed by a cello player.

“I think you did an OK job,” judge Jennifer Lopez said. “I actually felt a lot of emotion coming from you, but I don’t know that it was your best performance.”

“I think rehearsal is absolutely imperative but not at the expense of spontaneity,” judge Harry Connick Jr. said. “It just sounds like you were in a practice room. It just wasn’t strong tonight, man.”

“First of all, I love that song and I think that really suited you,” judge Keith Urban said. He praised Seavey for coming up with his own melody during a falsetto part of the song.

“I just think that was a good performance,” Urban said. “Don’t be distracted by the audience — cheering, clapping, whatever. Just get into the song and dig in a little more, especially a song like that because I think you’ve got it in you, Daniel.”

While host Ryan Seacrest was asking Seavey why he picked that specific song, a group of girls in the audience screamed, “We love you, Daniel!’ ” His celebrity is growing, as evidenced by his nearly 29,000 followers on Twitter and almost 70,000 followers on Instagram.

Seavey said he chose the song because he wanted to do his own version of it and show off his range.

The “American Idol” judges saved one contestant from elimination Thursday night, so there are still 11 singers in the running. Whether Seavey stays or goes will be revealed Wednesday night on Fox.

For more information about voting in the contest, visit www.americanidol.com/vote.