Colton Dixon

Michael Colton Dixon (born October 19, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

He placed seventh on the eleventh season of American Idol.

Colton Dixon was born Michael Colton Dixon on October 19, 1991, to parents Michael and Teresa Dixon.

He was born and raised in a middle-class family in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, along with younger sister, Schyler.

His father runs a face painting/air brush company, and his family has a Jack Russell dog named Ozzy, and a cat named Chloe.

Besides being a choir member throughout high school, In 2008, he was an extra during the filming of "Hannah Montana: The Movie".

He graduated from Middle Tennessee Christian School in 2010.

He is a devout Christian, and has sung at several worship services including at Saddleback Church.

He and Schyler are part of a Christian rock band called Messenger.

Dixon performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on March 3, 2011.

Dixon returned in season 11, but he did not plan to audition, initially planning to merely accompany his sister Schyler to her audition.

The judges implored Dixon to audition as well, where he sang David Cook's "Permanent".

Both he and Schyler were awarded golden tickets.

Schyler was cut yet again during the Las Vegas round, which brought her to tears.

On his final judgement performance, Dixon performed Coldplay's "Fix You" and dedicated it to his sister, Schyler.

On February 23, 2012, Dixon was placed in the season 11 Top 25.

In the semi-finals, he performed Paramore's "Decode".

He was one of the top five male vote getters and advanced into the Top 13.

Guest performer on the Top 13 Results night and runner-up of American Idol season 10 Lauren Alaina named Dixon and fellow contestant Jessica Sanchez as her two favorites to win the competition.

His elimination on April 19, 2012, was considered a big surprise because he had never been in the bottom three.

Following his elimination, Dixon appeared on various shows.

He performed a rendition of "Everything" by Lifehouse on Live! with Kelly on April 23, 2012.

He treated Access Hollywood viewers to a reprise of the same swan song.

He had a guest appearance on the Today Show on April 24, 2012.

He came back to The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform Billy Joel’s "Piano Man" on April 26, 2012.

Dixon and fellow contestant Elise Testone performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 27, 2012.

He was invited to the White House Correspondents Dinner as a special guest of the Christian Broadcasting Network on April 28, 2012.

He also started collaborating with Brandon Heath.

He debuted an original song called "Never Gone" at the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2012.

Colton says he wants his debut album to feature "faith-based music" without alienating a wider audience.

He released the original song he performed on the Idol tour, "Never Gone", on iTunes September 25, 2012, which is included on his debut album.

His debut single entitled "You Are" hit U.S. radio airwaves on October 19, 2012, and was released on iTunes on October 30, 2012.

He released his debut album A Messenger with EMI-CMG/Sparrow Records on January 29, 2013.

His musical influences include Paramore, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Lifehouse, Evanescence, Switchfoot, Skillet and The Fray.

Colton Dixon originally auditioned in the tenth season, along with his sister Schyler, at the Nashville auditions.

However, neither of them ended up in the Top 24.

On January 3, 2013, Dixon led the song "Jesus Paid It All" at the Passion 2013 Conference.

On January 29, 2013, Dixon released his album A Messenger through Sparrow Records, which sold 22,000 copies in its first week.

It debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200, number one on the U.S. Christian Chart and number one on the U.S. Gospel Chart.

Dixon and Jessica Sanchez held a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila on February 14.