Wesley Chapel Student, Zach D’Onofrio, to be featured on the season premiere episode of American Idol, airing on ABC this Sunday, March 11^th at 8pm.

Zach D’Onofrio, 17, is following his singing dream when he auditioned for the rebooted American Idol. American Idol, which took a brief hiatus from the airwaves, is returning with a great cast of judges featuring superstars Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

Although Zach has only been singing in front of audiences for about 2 years, he has already been on a remarkable journey.

Zach’s parents, Darci and Bryan D’Onofrio, own the Dreamhouse Theatre in Lutz, which is where Zach had his first experience being on the stage. And it wasn’t until he sang for the cast after a performance of Little Shop of Horrors, that he realized he might have some real talent.

Zach’s American Idol journey first started in Tampa, back in August, when he competed at the Tampa Bay Idol Contest. After Zach’s performance at the contest, he was awarded a golden ticket which allowed him to skip the audition line for the American Idol auditions in Orlando. Zach continued on his journey to Orlando to try out for the opportunity to go to New York to audition for the celebrity judges and to qualify to compete on American Idol. Zach had another strong performance in Orlando, and was awarded the opportunity to proceed to New York, and perform in front of the celebrity judges.

Zach states, “It all started at Tampa Bay Idol. That was my first audition for this whole process. That was at an ice rink in Tampa Bay. There I got the front of the line pass for the audition in Orlando, and from there it was on to New York City. And that is where I sang in front of the celebrities.”

He continues, “In Tampa, I was 16 at the time, and that was my first audition for anything ever. I never expected to get to New York City and audition for the celebrities. That was a big shock for me. Since I am still young, I never expected any of this to happen.”

Zach is very smart, and knows how to stand out from the crowd. He has a strong passion for collecting eccentric socks. Zach replies, “It all started with a pair of Kiwi socks. My sister had them and I kind of took them from her, and wore them everyday to school. My obsession grew from there. Each pair of socks has a memory for me. I have like 40-50 pairs now. I just have memories for each one.”

He brought pairs of these socks as gifts for Ryan Seacrest and the judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan. “I gave each judge a pair of socks that best suited them and I gave Ryan Seacrest a pair as well. I gave Lionel Richie a pair with skeleton heads, Katy Perry I gave her a pair of socks with cats on rainbows shooting lasers out of their eyes, and Luke Bryan I gave him a pair of Rooster socks since he is country. And Ryan Seacrest, I gave him ones with American Flags. I will be known as the sock guy after this,” Zach explains.

When you first meet Zach, with his soft speaking voice, you are not sure what to expect, and you probably wouldn’t expect for him to start crooning Frank Sinatra’s The Way You Look Tonight, which is the song he performed at all the auditions. But don’t let his soft voice fool you, Zach can sing, and sing well. After our interview, Zach gave us a personal audition of the Frank Sinatra song he performed for the Judges. When singing, his voice is very full and powerful, and he definitely has a bright future.

He tells us, “I am definitely influenced by Frank Sinatra. I feel it is different, and felt like no one else would be doing the same style and that is why I went towards the Frank Sinatra route. I just really thought my singing voice sounded a lot like him.”

Zach, who has had to keep this all a secret from his friends from school, will soon be able to tell his story after the season premiere episode.

And he definitely will have a few stories to tell, including while he was singing for the judges, Katy Perry came over to him and started dancing with him. A memory I am sure he will never forget. Zach states, “Whenever I started the song, she came down and then we started dancing together. I kept singing my song and I finished it somehow. It was really tough.”

After singing before the celebrity judges in New York City, Zach received a lot of feedback from the judges. One of the most memorable comments was from Lionel Richie. “He had the best feedback. Since I am going for the Frank Sinatra style, he is kind of like a classic. He kind of grow up in that style of music as well. He called me unique, which was a really cool moment.”

Be sure to watch and cheer on this hometown Wesley Chapel student as he competes on American Idol this Sunday at 8pm on ABC.