Osborne Earl "Nikko" Smith Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is a singer-songwriter who was the ninth-place finalist of the fourth season on American Idol.

Biography

Nikko Smith, the son of Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, is currently working on an album entitled The Revolution.

On October 26, 2006, Smith performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to Game 4 of the World Series, at the home field of the St. Louis Cardinals for whom his father had played 15 seasons.

American Idol

Smith auditioned for American Idol in 2005 with the song "All I Do" by Stevie Wonder. Smith made it to the third round of the semi-finals, but was voted off on March 9 along with Travis Tucker.

Days later, Smith got a phone call from the producers asking him to come back in place of Mario Vazquez, who left for "family reasons". After returning, Nikko was dubbed "The Comeback Kid" by judge Paula Abdul after a performance of "One Hand, One Heart". However, in the same week, Nikko was voted off the show, placing ninth overall.

American Idol performances

Week #SongOriginal artistResult
Top 24"Part-Time Lover"Stevie WonderSafe
Top 20"Let's Get It On"Marvin GayeSafe
Top 16"Georgia on My Mind"Ray CharlesEliminated1
Top 12"I Want You Back"The Jackson 5Safe
Top 11"Incomplete"SisqoSafe
Top 10"Can We Talk"Tevin CampbellSafe
Top 9"One Hand, One Heart"West Side StoryEliminated

^Note 1 : Nikko was originally eliminated in a semi-finals results show, He was called back after Mario Vazquez withdrew from the show and he replaced Mario on the final 12.