Jason Castro, playing ukulele, sang Brother IZ Kamakawiwoole’s version of “Over the Rainbow” Tuesday on “American Idol” and received rave reviews from all three judges, including the very critical Simon Cowell. Before singing, Castro, 21, said he was singing a nontraditional version of the song “by Brother IZ, a guy from Hawaii.” He added that it’s about “hopes and dreams and inspires us to dream big.”

Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin

This was the same video I made reference to on our last podcast…enjoy!

Here’s a more detailed writeup over at HawaiiMagazine.com

Categories: Blog, Music
Tags: American Idol, Bradda IZ, Brother IZ, Features, Hawaii, Hawaii Magazine, Hawaiian Music, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Israel Kamakawiwoole, IZ, Jason Castro, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, ukulele, video, youtube