NMSU Student’s Voice Was Golden Ticket-Worthy On American Idol

There have been plenty of Borderland musicians and singers who have headed to Hollywood to apply for various singing and talent competitions. Eli Zamora, Valerie Ponzio, Elia Esparza have all impressed judges on "The Voice" and now Dzaki Sukarno is proving his worth on the "American Idol."

Sukarno's performance was on the February 28th episode of the show and he was able to wow the judges with his performance of a country music hit. The 20-year-old has called Las Cruces home for the past ten years, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News, and he's currently a student at New Mexico State University. Sukarno is in his third year at NMSU and when he's not studying for his business agriculture degree, he's around town performing at open mics, local markets, restaurants, and more.

Dzaki Sukarno always loved singing but started performing in public two years ago. He performed for "American Idol" producers via Zoom due to the pandemic and after an anxious month, he got an email letting him know he would be auditioning in front of the celebrity judges.

Sukarno decided to perform "Good as You," the second single from country music star Kane Brown's album Experiment. He told Las Cruces Sun-News this is a song he feels comfortable singing and it shows off his vocal skills. When asked what his goals were for the future, Sukarno told the newspaper it would be a mix of his two loves of farming and country music:

"For sure, my goal is to be retired on some huge property in Texas, New Mexico or Wyoming, where there's farmland, and raise a couple of kids and be a country singer, but not too mainstream. Just enough for people to know me."

See Sukarno's audition in the video above. You can also follow him now on Instagram and Tik Tok.