BYU grad finalist in 'Idol' song contest

Perry G. Smith wrote a song a few weeks ago and submitted it to the "American Idol Songwriter" competition.

Smith's song, "You Believed in Me," was chosen as one of 20 contest finalists from tens of thousands of entries. To clarify, Smith's song is a male rock ballad not to be confused with the female ballad "You Believe In Me." The 20 will be voted on, and the winner will be performed during this season's "American Idol" finale.

Not bad for a political science major who graduated from Brigham Young University in 1997. And even more interesting is the fact that Smith, now a lawyer in Southern California, hasn't had lengthy formal music training.

"My dad is a songwriter who lives in South Carolina," said Smith during a phone interview with the Deseret News. "He taught me a couple of chords on the guitar and on the piano. Other than that, my only musical training was a trumpet in junior high school."

Still, music was — and is — a big part of Smith's life.

"I was an '80s kid," he said with a laugh. "I grew up listening to Rick Dees' 'American Top 40.' I would record the program and listen to it over and over again. Music helped me deal with the stresses of growing up."

However, Smith didn't start writing music in earnest until a few months ago.

"I've written maybe 12 songs in my life, and a majority of them were written last fall," he said with a laugh. "Really, I didn't even know about the 'American Idol' songwriting competition until a few days before the deadline."

Last year, "American Idol" introduced the "American Idol Songwriter." And, according to a press release, there were more than 250,000 entries.

"This year, there were tens of thousands, they told me," Smith said.

Smith had originally written "You Believed in Me" as a country song.

"I like the feel of country," he said. "I played the melody and wrote words and did the chords on the piano. I wrote it and let it sit for a while."

On the way home from a songwriter workshop, Smith listened to the song.

"It was funny because the workshop encouraged us to rewrite our songs," he said. "I came up with a different melody and new lyrics."

He sent his song off to a producer in Nashville who took care of hiring the musicians.

"His name is Gary Carter," Smith said. "The person who sang the leads is a friend of mine named Logan Pepper.

"Anyway, I got everything on an MP3 for under $500," Smith said. "And I submitted the MP3 two days before the deadline to the 'American Idol' people."

Two weeks later, Smith received a call saying his song was chosen as a finalist.