‘American Idol XIV’ video: See Mark Andrew’s audition on ‘The Voice’

Let’s face it: We’re not at the stage anymore where every contestant on “American Idol” can necessarily be as undiscovered as they once were. One of the best contestants on Wednesday night’s relatively-weak episode in Minnesota was Mark Andrew, and as it turns out, he has quite a singing-show history already.

While Mark did not make it extremely far on the fourth season of “The Voice,” he did make it past the Blind Auditions and ended up going with Shakira as his coach. He was cut before the live rounds began, which is probably one of the cut-offs for why he was allowed to try out for this other show in the first place.

Back in the day (a la three years ago), we used to have a real problem with singing-show cross-contamination. At this point, though, you’re hard-pressed to find aspiring singers over 18 without some sort of prior experience. It is much easier to be on a music show these days (there are so many more of them), but it is also a whole lot harder to make it as a big name in the industry after the fact. It’s no coincidence that Phillip Phillips is the only former contestant since Adam Lambert to have widespread mainstream success. (Katie Stevens has found fame, but as an TV actress. Scott McCreery has done pretty well on the country charts.)

This is the last chance for Mark to make it on “American Idol,” so we will see how he fares over the course of the season. Right now, we’d say he has an outside chance of making the top 12 in a stacked field of guys.

What do you think about Mark’s history, and do you have any issue with it? Share with a comment below, and head over here if you want to get our review of Tuesday’s episode. Also, sign up now for some further news worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTYhyL8-VSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62kzPSVe5Ao