BEAUMONT, Texas — Fritz Hager from Tyler, Texas is one of five remaining contestants on American Idol.
Although he's from Tyler, Fritz Hager has some Southeast Texas ties as well, and he has a bit of an unusual musical journey.
He doesn't come from a musical family and had to be a bit of a trailblazer in that sense begging his parents to let him take guitar lessons when he was young. From an early age, he knew he wanted to be on American Idol.
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"Well it's been amazing to have long lost friends text you out of nowhere saying, ‘Hey, hey I saw your son,’" Sarina Hager said.
Life for the Hager family and Sarina Hager has looked a little different in the past couple of months.
She's watched her son Fritz, go from auditions with close to 100,000 other people to the final five coming up this Sunday.
"You want your kid to chase his dream and even a crazy dream like American Idol, but this kid is doing it, and we couldn't be more thrilled to watch all this happen for him," Sarina Hager said.
Fritz also has ties to the Gulf Coast.
"I knew that he loved music and I looked down at him and I said ‘Fritzy, would you like to sing in a choir one day like those kids?’ and he said ‘No mommy, I just want to sing solos,’" Sarina Hager said.
He built strong memories of spending his summers on the Bolivar Peninsula. If anyone inspired him to become an artist, it was his grandmother, Brenda.
"And that’s a song, that my mother, who passed away five years ago asked him to write, back when he first picked up a guitar," Sarina Hager said. "She literally said ‘I’d like you to write me a song one day about the beach house.’ He said ‘Well B, I don’t know how to write songs,’ and she said ‘Well you will one day.’"
And that day has come. In last week's episode, Fritz performed his song "The ocean" dedicated to the summers back on Bolivar.
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"There’s not a person that I’ve talked to who has listened to that song that it doesn't resonate with in some way," Sarina Hager said. "Those lyrics, whether they are from Southeast Texas or not, it has a special connection."
When Fritz auditioned, he only got two of three votes to make it through the first round. Eight weeks later, he's proving his doubters wrong.
May 15, Sunday night at 7 p.m. right here on KBMT-TV ABC, you'll have the chance to vote live. Each person can vote up to 30 times.
Fritz is planning to be back in Tyler next week on May 17. If you want to see the star in the flesh, it's just a quick drive to Tyler.