Elliott Yamin was born on July 20, 1978 in Los Angeles, California. When Elliott was 11 years old, his mother moved the family, which consisted of Elliott and his brother, to Richmond, Virginia. He has been singing since he was 5 years old, and enjoys music from the R&B and soul genres. Before joining season 5 of American Idol, Elliott was in a jazz band and often performed in amateur singing contests. He did not graduate from high school, having left when he was only in his second year, but did acquire a high school equivalency certificate later on. Surprisingly, Elliott is 90% deaf in one ear and, like fellow American Idol Finalist, Kevin Covais, is a Type I diabetic.

Elliott went traveled to Boston from his hometown in order to audition for season 5 of American Idol. He was good enough to advance to the Hollywood rounds and eventually landed a spot on the semifinals, where he sang Stevie Wonder's "If You Really Love Me," James Moody's "Moody's Mood For Love" and Bryan Adams' "Heaven." America's votes allowed Elliott to proceed to the Finals, where he continued to wow America with his talent, singing hits like "Teach Me Tonight," "I Don't Want To Be, "Somebody To Love," "It Had to Be You" and "If I Can Dream." He made it all the way to the Top Three with Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks, and although he was the one eliminated on the tenth week, it was a very close race. He came back for the Finale, where he got to perform with Grammy award-winning R&B artist Mary J. Blige and the legendary Burt Bacharach.

After American Idol, Elliott went on to appear in some television shows, namely The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Live with Regis and Kelly and Dayside. He has also performed in public events such as Game 2 of the NBA Finals, at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and at the Virginia State Fair. He also joined the Pop Tart country wide tour, which is held every year. In December of 2006, Elliott came out with his rendition of "This Christmas," and his debut single "Movin On" was first heard on AOL's first listen on February 9, 2007.

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