The X Factor USA Auditions: Former Drug Addict Chris Rene Struck a Deal with Simon Cowell

Chris Rene, a 28 year old garbage collector and dad to a two and a half year old son, admitted that he was desperate to succeed on the X Factor as ‘this competition could open up so many door’ for him. He added:
‘I wanna be on stages, singing for people, making money. I’m done with hauling trash, it’s time to entertain America.’

Chris Rene X Factor Performance Summary

Age : 28.
Auditioned In : LA.
Song Title : Young Homie .
Recorded By : Chris Rene .
Available From :

The singer from Santa Cruz, California then told the judges that he had just gotten out of rehab and has been clean for 70 days and on what winning The X Factor would mean to him, he went on:

“It would mean the world, specifically it would mean stability for me and my son and my family.”

“I have this disease called addiction. The shame and the guilt just got to me, it just totally broke me. There is always a chance and there is always a choice. Instead of doing nothing, I want my son to see me singing on stages, because life is too precious to waste.”

Chris then gave an impressive rendition of his own composition, titled ‘Young Homie’ for the panel.

The judges and audience loved the performance and gave Chris a standing ovation. Check out his perfromance below:

Judges Comments

Simon Cowell: Always my favourite feeling in the world is when I sit in this chair and I meet a star for the first time. There is something about you and what I like about that is that maybe you need the show, maybe we need you. But we have a deal here that if we put you through, for you and your son, we’re staying on the right track yeah? There’s no breaking that.

Paula Abdul: You are a bright light, you lit us all up. You are so talented words can’t articulate.

Nicole Scherzinger: Let me tell you something, yeah honey I’m tripping on you! I’m serious. I can’t even describe your talent. I guess you’ve got The X Factor!

L.A Reid: I have worked with some of the greatest hip hop artists, from Jay Z to Kanye West and all my boys they would be proud of me today to tell you that you are the truth. I’m going to give you a yes but you’ve got to stay straight.

Four yeses later and Chris had won himself a place in bootcamp. Watch his audition below and tell us, do you think he can make the live shows? Leave your comments below.