Didi Benami
Benami in 2007 prior toAmerican Idol
Background information
Born	Vered Benami (1986-10-25)October 25, 1986 (age 39)
Origin	Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Acoustic rock,pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Independent
Website	officialdidibenami.com

Vered "Didi"Benami (Hebrew:ורד "דידי" בן עמי; born October 25, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and television host. After placing tenth on theninth season ofAmerican Idol, she released her debut single, "Gasoline", in 2012 and the albumReverie in 2014. In 2023, she began co-hosting theAXS seriesBanded.

Benami was born in New York before moving toTennessee at the age of seven. Her father is Israeli^[1][2] and her first name,Vered (ורד) means "rose" inHebrew.^[3] She spent most of her formative years in Knoxville, Tennessee. Benami was raised Jewish.^[4]

Benami is a 2005 graduate ofWest High School. She started singing in the fifth grade. In school, she performed the role of Marty in the musical "Grease" and frequently performed the national anthem in front of various crowds.

OnAmerican Idol, Benami said she was a cheerleader and mascot at Bearden Middle School.

Benami attendedNashville'sBelmont University before moving to California. This move followed the death of her close friend and roommate, Rebecca Joy Lear, in an automobile accident driving from Nashville to her Kansas home during the Christmas holiday of her first year.^[5] They wrote songs together, mostly on Lear's album, but Benami recently said that she would pursue Lear's music first and would most likely upload Benami version of Lear's songs.

Benami auditioned forAmerican Idol inLos Angeles, California, where she has lived for four years. She has credited her friend, Rebecca Joy Lear, as one of the reasons she auditioned forAmerican Idol.^[5]

At Benami's audition she sangThe Beatles' song "Hey Jude". The judges all loved her performance, including guest judgeAvril Lavigne. She became a front-runner in the competition following her well-praised performance ofKatharine McPhee's song "Terrified" (co-written by Idol judge Kara DioGuardi) on the first solo of Hollywood Week, whereSimon Cowell said "she was good". During the group week of Hollywood week Benami's group sangAlicia Keys' "No One". On the second solo performance of Hollywood week, she sangSarah McLachlan's "Angel".^[6]

In the top 24 performances, Benami sangIngrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am" where the judges did not love her rendition of it, saying she has a good voice but it was rather "sound-alike". In the top 20 performance, she sangBill Withers's "Lean on Me", where once again the judges did not love her performance, withRandy Jackson saying it was pitchy and Simon Cowell said it was like a screeching cat. During the top 16 performances, however, she made a comeback with the songFleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon", withKara DioGuardi adding that that performance has the "singer/songwriter" vibe that she loves on Benami's performance of "Terrified".^[7]

On March 31, 2010, Benami was eliminated from the competition and finished in 10th place. Despite an encore of "Rhiannon" for the judges' save, the judges chose not to save her, though, Simon Cowell stated it was "a million times better" than her performance the night before.^[8][7]

On theAmerican Idols Live! Tour 2010, Benami sang two songs, Katharine McPhee's "Terrified" and Kyler England's "Lay It on Me". She also sang in the group performance ofMiley Cyrus's "The Climb" withAaron Kelly,Katie Stevens,Andrew Garcia,Tim Urban, andSiobhan Magnus.^[9][10]

Benami appeared withJason Reeves on Jason's Official Twitter page where he thanked her for giving life to the song. They later sang "Terrified" with Jason on the guitar.

Promising to fulfill Rebecca's musical dream, Benami released and sang her version of Rebecca's songs "Lullaby" and "No Destination" on her official Myspace page.

Benami attended interviews such asThe Ellen DeGeneres Show after her elimination. She also appeared on various other shows during her post-Idol tour including theLate Show with David Letterman,The Today Show, andAccess Hollywood. On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Show, and Access Hollywood, Benami performed the Kara DioGuardi-penned "Terrified", her song made famous fromAmerican Idol's Hollywood Week.

A track Benami recorded prior to participating on American Idol, "Sweet Rain", was uploaded ontoYouTube after she was voted off the show. The track was co-written by Rocco Guarino, Ryan Gonzalez, and Joseph "Panhead" Peck, as well as, produced by Rocco Guarino, who also produced American Idol alumnaAmanda Overmyer's debut album. Benami stated via her Twitter page that she will be collaborating with producer Kyler England in the studio on April 6, 2010. On April 7, Benami had an interview with OK! Magazine. She stated, "I want to have a record out by this time next year. By the end of the year is my goal, but I don't know how logistics will work out after the tour. I already started writing some songs, so I don't know if I could get an EP out by the end of the year and then do a record the following year. I definitely want to do a compilation of Rebecca's music. I would eventually like to act, that would be fun. I would love to do sitcoms, likeFriends. I loveJennifer Aniston, I think she's amazing. I would eventually like to write a book about all my experiences since I moved to L.A. About losing a friend, being an inspiration and turning something bad into something good."

In mid-April, Benami volunteered with '"Idol Gives Back" along with various past Idol contestants includingElliott Yamin. They packed food for local underprivileged families. She stated via Twitter that she is currently practicing for the upcoming American Idol summer tour for which she will be performing along with the remainder of the top ten finalists.

Benami appeared as a guest in theIf I Can Dream house. She sangAlicia Keys'sNo One withKatie Stevens,Andrew Garcia, andSiobhan Magnus; andRadiohead'sCreep, with Stevens and Magnus. She also sangTerrified inside the house, teaching it to formerAmerican Idol contestant andIf I Can Dream castmateAlex Lambert.

Benami sang theNational Anthem at the 2011 NBA Playoffs in Orlando, Florida, on April 19, 2011, during the first-round game between the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks.

Benami sang the national anthem andGod Bless America during the 7th inning stretch for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 30, 2012.

Benami released her debut single,Gasoline, in May 2012. The song was written by Benami with Justin Gray andChris Seefried; it was produced by Seefried.^[11] The song was not included on an album.^[12]

Benami released a duet with Keaton Simons,If I Hadn't Forgotten, recorded at Revolver Studios in fall of 2011.

Benami portrays the titular character in the music video for "Hurricane" byTheory of a Deadman.^[11][13][14]

In May 2014, Benami released the albumReverie. The album was crowdfunded throughPledgeMusic and produced byBilly Mohler.^[14][15] "Watching and Waiting" was released as the first single fromReverie in January 2014. It was written by Benami with Mohler and Jordan Lawhead and was featured on an episode ofAmerican Idol'sthirteenth season.^[16] "Trouble" was released as the second single fromReverie in March 2014.^[12] A music video was released for "Trouble", which was directed by Nicholes Miltello.^[15] In 2020, Fred Bronson ofBillboard called the song "Picture Perfect" fromReverie an "overlooked gem" that "should have been...a hit".^[17]

In 2023, Benami began co-hosting the music competition television seriesBanded withBrandon Jenner. The series airs onAXS and premiered on May 13, 2023.^[18] It was originally announced in late 2022 under the titleProject Supergroup and was set to air onMTV before premiering on AXS instead.^[19][20][21]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDidi Benami.

• Official website
• Didi Benami atAmerican Idol

• 1986 births
• Living people
• American women singer-songwriters
• American Idol participants
• American people of Israeli descent
• Belmont University alumni
• Musicians from Knoxville, Tennessee
• Singers from New York City
• American women pop singers
• Jewish American musicians
• Singer-songwriters from California
• Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
• Guitarists from Los Angeles
• Guitarists from Tennessee
• Jewish women singers
• Guitarists from New York City
• 21st-century American women singers
• 21st-century American singer-songwriters
• 21st-century American Jews
• Singer-songwriters from New York (state)

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• Articles containing Hebrew-language text
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