Scott MacIntyre says his life has been "such a whirlwind" since he was a finalist on "American Idol" in 2008. I literally feel like I am living my dreams every single day," says the 25-year-old singer/songwriter from Scottsdale, Ariz. who was the show's first sight-impaired contestant. MacIntyre is not totally blind. But he has had only a 2 percent field of vision since birth.
He's coming to Tampa this week to perform at The Eye Ball, a fundraising gala "with a vision"; for the Lions Eye Institute in Tampa. MacIntyre will sing at the event scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at the Tampa Museum of Art. The Eye Institute for Transplant and Research operates the largest eye bank in the world and has provided eyesight to more than 40,000 adults and children.
"Performances like this are special to me because I wanted to give back," MacIntyre said during a recent visit to Tampa. "I have been touring the world since 'Idol' and sold out my own show in Japan this year. I even did a show with Alice Cooper.
"I didn't get to do my own music on the show but now I have been touring the country performing my album 'Heartstrings,' " he says. MacIntyre, who also does inspirational speaking, is writing an autobiography. "I love to intersperse my story with my music during my concerts," he says.
Born with severe tunnel vision -- as if he sees the world through a narrow little straw -- he began playing the piano by ear at age 3 and began classical training at age 5. He can almost instantly memorize music.
At age 14, MacIntyre was accepted into an Arizona State University honors program. He made his orchestral debut at 15, performing as guest piano soloist with the Phoenix Symphony.
After graduating from Arizona State with a degree in piano performance, he did graduate work at Britain's Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music as the winner of a $60,000 scholarship.
He says that he came back to the states to audition for "Idol."
"I didn't know how it would work out but I went into with an openness to see where it would lead," he says. "It's a very competitive show and I can imagine what the producers thought when I showed up with my white cane and no clue how to look at the camera."
"It's a very visual show and we live in a very visual society and for me, being blind, it was unchartered territory as it was for the show," he says. "I think that during my run there I was able to break a lot of barriers."
During the competition, he performed Bruce Hornsby's "Mandolin Rain." He says that Hornsby wrote him, thanking him for introducing his music to millions of young viewers. "To this day I get requests to play that song" MacIntyre says. "I keep it in my stage show because it has such an impact. It was the first song I performed on 'Idol.' "
"When I was a kid, I used to imagine what it would be like to be on a stage and share music with large crowds. When it actually happened it was just amazing."