Marcio Donaldson is a 28-year-old guy who took his chance on Season 15 of “American Idol” but didn’t make the whole way through the competition. This year, he came back willing to reach his goal to the finals. Marcio went through many hardships, but music always made him stronger and gave him the power to pass over the obstacles: “Growing up in that neighborhood, it was a lot of shooting, a lot substance abuse, a lot of people who did not see the age of 13 years old,” he said. “My mother tried her hardest but children services ended up placing me and my sister in the system so I found refuge in my music.”
However, everything changed for him the day he found out that his sister got pregnant. His sister dealing with drugs wasn’t able to take care of her newborn son, Rashaad. So children local authorities proposed one life-changing solution: either take Rashaad into his own care, or let him enter the foster care system where he could potentially live a stressful and unbalanced life. Without hesitation, the brave man became his own nephew’s adopted father. He wasn’t ready to give up on Rashaad to struggle from foster home to another like he was a kid.
When he entered to perform for the competition. The judges were stunned to see him holding the little baby in his arms – judge Luke Bryan was happy to take care of the baby while his dad takes his place to sing. After he finished singing his rendition of Labrinth’s ‘Jealous,’ Marcio was completely overwhelmed by emotions, the judges kindly console him like nothing I’ve seen before during an “AI” audition. This one is for the books, and I have a strong feeling that this time around, Marcio will keep his place in the competition.
Marcio went home with more than just a ticket, though: He went home with hope for the future.
Watch the clip that has captured the hearts of the internet below:
