"My friends kept saying I had nothing to lose," says singer-songwriter Elliott Yamin of his decision to audition for "American Idol," "and I really didn't. I was at a point in my life where I had no direction. I was just scraping by at my job. I thought, I'm 27 years old and what do I have to show for it? I was lost. Deep down inside, I wondered if by trying out, I could somehow put myself on a path to something I'd always longed for but never admitted to anyone."

The secret was on its way out well before Yamin finished third in the fifth season of "Idol" (in a historically close race behind Taylor Hicks and Katherine McPhee); early in the competition, the ever-prickly Simon Cowell deemed him "potentially the best male vocalist in the history of 'American Idol.'" With the release of his debut album, Elliott Yamin, few will believe this accomplished vocalist was once too embarrassed to sing out in his middle-school choir class. "I only took that class because there were a lot of cute girls in there," he says with typical candor. "I pretty much just lip-synched my way through it."

Still, unlike a lot of kids whose vocal skills are detected early on, Elliott did not take voice lessons, did not appear in school talent shows, did not practice his Grammy speech and was not stage-mothered. "My mom was always supportive, but she didn't try to push me," he notes. "She knew I hated to be the center of attention and she respected that."

Shadowing the development of Elliott's clandestine talent was his struggle with what he calls "bad tubes in my ears." "That part of my childhood was very difficult," he confides. "My ears always hurt, and I was the kid who always had to put drops in his ears. I was in and out of the hospital. When I was 13, my right eardrum burst and I had to have eardrum-replacement surgery. But I still can't really hear in my right ear." Doctors estimate that he has, in fact, suffered 90 percent hearing loss in that ear. "It's always been a part of my life," Yamin says matter-of-factly, having never allowed his hearing deficit to become a hindrance. "It's just annoying to have to say 'what?' all the time."

Even after he made it onto the show and began climbing in the standings, it felt like a lark - until Stevie Wonder appeared as a guest vocal coach. He still shakes his head with incredulity as he relates what happened next: "When Stevie Wonder walked into the room and we found out we were going to work with him, I couldn't believe it. I'm a very emotional person and I got tears in my eyes. At that point, I said to myself, okay, this could end for me right here, right now, and I'd be fine with that. I was real close with everyone on the show, including all the behind-the-scenes people. When the editors were cutting together the segment with Stevie, they said, 'Hey, check this out.' It was footage of him saying I should definitely pursue a career in music. I was stunned. To be validated by Steve Wonder ? "