#Fact1"Idol Gives Back" and the ASCAP Awards at the Kodak Theater on the 9th. [April 2008]2Doing the 'American Idol Live Tour' It will span from the 5th of July till mid September. All the 'American Idol season 5' Top 10 will be there. [July 2006]3Will release his self-titled debut album on March 20 through Hickory Records via RED Distribution. He worked closely with music publisher, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, on writing and production and both parties will work on the marketing. [January 2007]4Sang the National Anthem again at Dodger Stadium in L.A. and cut the ribbon for a diabetes walk during JDRF International Walk to Cure Diabetes [October 2006]5Scheduled to sing as the closing act at the Virginia State Fair. A sold-out crowd is expected. This makes him the first singer from American Idol's fifth season to have a solo concert. [October 2006]6Sang at the Genworth Financial tennis tournament and met Andre Agassi. [December 2006]7Edison Field in Anahiem, CA for the Angels' Opening Night at 7pm PST on the 4th. [April 2008]8Released his rendition of Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" on AOL Music, iTunes.com and his MySpace page. [December 2006]9The video for his first big hit "Wait for You" placed at #19 on VH1's Top 40 Countdown for 2007. After his USO tour, will return to the studio for his second CD due in the summer 2008. [December 2007]10"Hope For a Cure" Gala, sponsored by JDRF in Atlanta, Georgia at 7pm on the 26th. [April 2008]11Doing charity work in Angola, Africa from the 2nd to the 9th [March 2008]12Appeared in People magazine for getting a dental makeover with veneers. The article also revealed he's signed to Sony Records. [December 2006]13Preparing for the American Idols tour from July to September. Afterwards, he'll start recording an R&B album in the fall. No release date scheduled or label announced but Simon Cowell said it should be out by year's end. [June 2006]14USO Tour from the 11th to the 21st and Weinstein JCC in Richmond, Virginia on the 23rd [February 2008]15Sang "What's Going On?" by Marvin Gaye and "This Christmas" as well as the National Anthem again at the 2006 Genworth Children's Advantage Classic (sponsored by the Genworth Foundation) at the Alltel Pavilion at the Virginia Commonwealth University's Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond. He sang between an Andre Agassi/Steffi Graf vs. Lindsay Davenport/James Blake doubles match and an Agassi/Blake singles match. He later got a photo op with Andre. [December 2006]16Sang the National Anthem at Game 2 of the NBA finals wearing a Dirk Nowitzki jersey. MSNBC called it "the Highlight Moment" of the game. [June 2006]17Him, Danny Gokey, and Casey James are the only male contestants to finish third on American Idol.18Song "Fight for Love" was originally offered to Leona Lewis.19Jewish-American.20Favorite song is "Moody's Mood For Love" by James Moody. Elliott recorded this song on the American Idols Season 5: Encores CD.21Went to Japan for a 5-day promotion tour in March 24th, 2008. His debut album is scheduled to be released in Japan on May 21, 2008, by Avex International; the Japan version has been retitled Wait for You.22Performed "Wait for You" at the 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards on April 9, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. The song was honored as one of the most performed songs in the ASCAP repertory during 2007.23Travelled to the United Kingdom, Belgium, Holland and Germany to entertain service members as part of a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour from February 12th to the 21st in 2008.24On December 1, 2007, Yamin performed at the Live & Loud 07 Music Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he was the opening act for one of his personal idols, Whitney Houston. They didn't meet.25He continued his North America tour in the fall, again with Josh Hoge opening and adding the rock band The Last Goodnight. Drummer Glen Sobel replaced Felix Bloxsom in Yamin's band, and fellow American Idol 5 alumnus José "Sway" Penala was added to provide backing vocals. The tour kicked off on October 5 in Chicago and ended on November 26 in Washington, DC.26Was scheduled to sing the National Anthem and "God Bless America" at the Washington Nationals' new stadium in D.C. on opening night (March 31st, 2008), the day his mother died. He was replaced by Denyce Graves.27Recorded "Real Love" with Katharine McPhee in an hour.28Is the first American Idol contestant to do an autograph signing at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square.29Sometimes wishes he sung "Ribbon In the Sky" instead of "Knocks Me Off My Feet" during Stevie Wonder week. He has admitted to not doing the song justice even though Simon thought it was the best performance after Ace and Kellie.30Is allergic to cats.31Has a Shih Tzu named Buster.32Video for "Wait For You" placed number #19 on VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2007.33The song "Movin On" was previewed on AOL's First Listen Program, which landed it on AOL Music's home page throughout Grammy weekend. Hundreds of thousands of visitors listened, many of whom posted rave reviews.34His debut CD was written and produced with Stargate (Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Rihanna), Josh Abraham (Pink, Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars), DJ Lethal (Limp Bizkit, Evanescence, LP), Michael Mangini (Joss Stone, Baha Men, David Byrne) and Derek Bramble (David Bowie, Vanessa Williams, Lalah Hathaway).35The song he sang to win $1,000 for Richmond Idol was Brian McKnight's "One Last Cry".36His free dental makeover in Beverly Hills took 20 hours and would normally cost $20,000.37Was one of the nearly 19,000 people who auditioned in Boston for the fifth season of American Idol.38Spent about 15 hours, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., waiting to audition for Randy, Paula and Simon in Boston.39Was born the day after his father got his green card at 12:15 a.m.40Tried to be a vegetarian at the age of 8.41Earned his GED in 1997 at the Virginia Randolph Education Center while working at Foot Locker.42At the age of 5, Elliott would walk outside his family home in Pasadena carrying a boombox blasting the sounds of Itzhak Perlman.43His mentor's grandmother passed away the night he made the Top 12.44Held 43 different jobs before auditioning for American Idol, including 6 years at Foot Locker, collections, customer service, retail, landscaping, vinyl-siding installation, part-time deejay for Power 92 and counter clerk at Westbury Pharmacy.4520,459 people were at the American Airlines Center in Dallas when Elliott sang the National Anthem for game 2 of the NBA finals on June 11, 2006, which is exactly the day American Idol premiered on Fox in 2002.46Fronted a reggae outfit known as the Razor Posse at the Bob Marley Festival in Richmond's Chimborazo Park singing "Waiting In Vain".47Occasionally sat in with a jazz/funk band called Big Pat & Legion in Richmond.48Sang background on three tracks for Big Planz's gospel rap CD Sound Doctrine in 2004. Once word got out in 2006 that Elliott sang back up, Big's site got 7000 hits in 3 days and in 24 hours, its sales-ranking on Amazon.com went from 505000 to 1300.49His version of "Moody's Mood for Love" is #73 on Billboard's US Pop Chart, #76 on US Digital, #53 on iTunes' Top 100 Songs and #1 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 as of early July 200650The July 2006 issue of Richmond Magazine, which featured Elliott wearing a shirt with the number 3 on it, sold 144,000 copies in 4 days. Normally, the magazine sells 31,000 copies in a monthly period.51Fans of Elliott Yamin are known as Yaminions, the E-Train, FOEs (Friends of Elliott), Yamin Fiends and/or the Yamin Machine!52Results from another online poll at AOL put Elliott at #1 for person that should've won American Idol in this year at 40%. Katharine was next with 37%.53Results from an online poll at PBSKids.org tabulated 50,110 votes as of June 19th, 2006 asking who should have won American Idol. Chris Daughtry came in 1st, but Elliott was next by a difference 2%.54Played basketball with Anthony Fedorov, last year's 3rd runner-up, on Easter Sunday 2006.55Used to turn out the lights to sing in front of friends.56For the July 29th stop of the American Idol tour in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, 9,000 tickets sold out in under 15 minutes, besting the tour led 3 years prior by Ruben, Clay and Kimberley. That averages out to 10 tickets per second.57When it was down to 5, a poll at MSNBC.com asked who should win American Idol. Elliott had the most with 30% while Katharine came in second with 28%.58As of May 30, an AOL poll placed Elliott 5th on the "Best Idol of All Time" list. Taylor Hicks tied for 3rd while Katharine McPhee tied for 6th.59On AmericanIdol.com's Top 20 highest-rated performances of season 5, Elliott got the most with 9. Behind him was Taylor with 7.60His audition number for the judges in Boston was 19991.61The first album he bought with his own money: Whitney Houston's self-titled debut.62His favorite reality show, other than Idol, is The Amazing Race.63The one superpower he'd love to have? The ability to fly.64Would most love to duet and write an original song with Stevie Wonder.65Was born with severe allergies to trees, grass and pollen.66His mother Claudette began singing at 12 doing blues and standards in hotels, clubs and steakhouses with orchestra leader Ray McKinley.67When the Top 24 was revealed, Pinnaclesports.com gave his chances of winning at last with 65-1, tying him with 8 other contenders. When it was down to 8, Entertainment Weekly gave him 12-1 odds of winning ahead of only Bucky and Ace. When it was down to three, the magazine gave him 6-1 odds.68Loves to play basketball and work out69Like winner Taylor Hicks, originally planned to audition in Memphis but couldn't due to Hurricane Katrina. Instead, drove to Boston for 11 1/2 hours and was the second to last person heard by the judges.70Favorite film: Coming to America (which featured choreography by Paula Abdul)71At the American Idol finale, sang "A House Is Not a Home" in the Burt Bacharach medley and U2's "One" with Mary J. Blige.72He is 90% deaf in one ear.73Made the top 3 on "American Idol: The Search for a Super Star"74He began singing at the age of five and he has had no formal vocal training.75At the age of seventeen, Yamin was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and has to wear an insulin pump.76When he was eleven years old, he moved to Richmond, Virginia.77As a child, he suffered from allergies to grass and pollen. Yamin is 90% deaf in his right ear, which he mentioned in the third round of the semi-finals.