Owen at his X Factor Audition

By BRENDA BARGER
DavidsonNews.net

Owen Stuart of Davidson only made it through a few rounds of Fox Network’s “The X Factor,” but this 17-year-old singer surely has a bright future in music. The son of Jennifer and Don Stuart, Owen was born in Michigan, spent five years in Buffalo, N.Y. When his parents took jobs in the Charlotte area, they brought the family (Owen, Mason (15) and Liam(11) south to Davidson in the summer 2011. That year he started as a junior at the Northwesat School of the Arts – a perfect place to nurture his talent.

Owen Stuart

Always interested in music and performing on stage since the age of six, Owen watched “The X Factor” show during the 2011 season. When auditions for the 2012 show were announced last May in Greensboro, he was there with several thousand others to sing. (More than 200,000 thousand hopeful singers applied in person at five locations across the country or online.)

Chosen to compete, Owen appeared on numerous episodes this year. Although nervous each time he sings in front of a crowd, he got “thumbs up” from Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato and L.A. Reid after his first appearance in front of the judges. (Only Britney Spearshad a negative remark: “You didn’t wow me.”)

After making it through six rounds of auditions for the 2012 X Factor Show, Owen was selected to participate in the X Factor Boot Camp for two weeks at the end of July in Miami where he made it through three more eliminations.

Owen (second from right) with his Miami X Factor group

Initially he competed as a soloist but, he was teamed with four other boys to compete together in the “group category.” Together they had one week to train for the final audition of one song in front of Simon Cowell and Marc Anthony in the “Judges’ Houses” round. Although taped well in advance, we now know that Owen and his group were disappointed when they did not make it through to the live shows and watched the $5 million dollar prize slip away.

In retrospect, it was a great experience and has just whetted Owen’s appetite for work in the music industry. A senior now at the Northwest School of the Arts, he hopes to pursue his education in NYC, taking with him hundreds of tunes he has composed and lyrics he has written.

We wish Owen the best of luck in his career. For more information on this talented young singer/songwriter/rapper, including his X Factor performances, check out his website, www.owenstuartmusic.com.