Michael Sarver (born March 28, 1981) is an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

who was the tenth place finalist on the eighth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

''.

Early life

Sarver was born in

Sulphur, Louisiana Sulphur (french: Soufre) is a city in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. The population was 21,809 in 2020. Sulphur is part of the Lake Charles metropolitan statistical area. History Sulphur is named for the sulfur mines that were operated in the area ...

, and graduated from Sulphur High School. He has two children, McKenna and Grayson. He has written over 1100 songs for himself and others since the age of 14, and has also been singing since he was an adolescent. Prior to ''American Idol'', Sarver worked as a

roughneck Roughneck is a term for a person whose occupation is hard manual labor. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with the workers on a drilling rig. The ideal of the hard-working, tough roughneck has been ...

on an oil rig.

''American Idol''

Overview

Sarver auditioned for the eighth season of ''American Idol'' in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. During the first semi-finals week, he was able to garner enough votes to allow him to continue, beating fellow contestant

Anoop Desai Anoop Manoj Desai (born December 20, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and actor best known for his time as a contestant on the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Desai was the first ever 13th finalist on ''American Idol'' and was the se ...

for the third spot by just over 20,000 votes. He was eliminated on March 26, 2009, after the panel of judges were unable to unanimously agree to save him. As Sarver was in the top 10, he was able to perform on the

American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009 The American Idols Live! Tour 2009 was a summer concert tour in the United States and Canada that featured the top 10 contestants of the eighth season of American Idol. The 52 date tour started on July 5, 2009 in Portland, Oregon and ended on S ...

Performances/Results

* When

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of '' Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and ' ...

announced the results in the particular night, Sarver was in the bottom three, but declared safe second when Alexis Grace was eliminated.

Post-''Idol''

Sarver signed with Dream Records/

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in December 2009. That same month, he joined "Idol" alums

Gina Glocksen Gina Glocksen (born July 4, 1984) is an American singer, who was the ninth-place finisher on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. She was eliminated on April 4, 2007. She previously appeared in season 5. Glocksen is the first among the few con ...

, David Hernandez and Alexis Grace on the American Stars In Concert Tour. He released a self-titled debut album in July 2010, and three songs - "You Are", "Cinderella Girl", and "Ferris Wheel" - were released as singles. His Myspace page later revealed he signed to Dream Records/

Fontana Distribution Fontana Distribution was a division of San Francisco-based Isolation Network (now owned by the Virgin Music Group unit of the Universal Music Group since 2019). A minority stake of the company was owned by Universal Music until INgrooves acquire ...

. He has also become the official spokesperson for Credit Power Educational Foundation, Inc. In June 2010, Sarver launched a web sit
http://michaelsarver.com
In 2012, Sarver left Dream Records due to the inability of the label to fulfill their contractual obligations.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarver, Michael 1981 births 21st-century American singers Living people Singers from Texas Singers from Louisiana American Idol participants American multi-instrumentalists American country singers People from Jasper, Texas 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from Louisiana Guitarists from Texas 21st-century American drummers American male pianists American male guitarists Country musicians from Texas Country musicians from Louisiana 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male singers