American Idol is back and it's on ABC.
The 16th season debuted Sunday night, and there’s some homegrown talent competing this year.
One of the Hollywood hopefuls is Les Greene, a charismatic singer who grew up in Baltimore.
He worked at Zen West as a bartender for over four years, and the owner Po Chang said he’s not surprised he’s competing.
West said the North Baltimore restaurant is where Greene’s music career started.
"He did some karaoke for starters and then he did some open mic nights,” Greene said. “Next thing you know he was in a band, and he's just amazing."
Now he's competing against the best in the country to be crowned the next American Idol.
He will be trying to impress judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan , and Lionel Richie.
Hannah Carpenter, a friend of Greene, said his charismatic personality will win the judges over.
“He kind of can just go into a room and talk anyone's ear off about anything and have them have the time of their life," said Carpenter.
Greene lives in Key West now, but the singer makes sure to come back to his old stomping grounds for a couple performances and laughs each year.
"I met him for the first time on St. Patrick's Day here,” said Miranda Jenello. “He was wearing a full body bright green morph suit."
As they watch their friend perform for millions of viewers, they already know he's got what it takes.
"I think he's going to go all the way,” said Chang.
Greene didn’t perform in the debut, but they will throw a watch party at Zen West next Sunday hoping to cheer Green on.
American Idol airs every Sunday and Monday at 8 PM.
