USC Student to Compete on NBC's "The Sing-Off"
Video by Fernando Hurtado
The Broadcast and Digital Journalism major with a double-minor in Marketing and Cinematic Arts will form part of The Filharmonic, a six-member "vocal boy band."
Gaynor, who is currently a member of USC's Troy Tones, auditioned for the show after a USC alum reached out to him on Facebook after seeing his performances and asked him if he would like to be part of The Filharmonic, an all-Filipino a cappella group.
The newly formed group sent in its audition tape in May 2013 and got an email in June saying they had been cast.
Gaynor says the reality singing competition was filmed in August and September, and he had to miss the first three weeks of classes.
"That was stressful," says Gaynor, "but I just had to make sure I registered for classes right before the drop-date."
Gaynor is currently a Thursday producer for ATVN and a tour guide for USC.
As for his future plans, Gaynor is already employed in the music industry. He works doing business development for a vocal coach who does voice consulting for shows like "American Idol."
Gaynor wasn't always into singing, however. He played the violin and piano growing up, but when he auditioned for his high school a cappella group, he was rejected.
When he came to USC, he auditioned for Troy Tones and was accepted.
"I didn't exactly try to get in the music industry," Gaynor told ATVN. "It's half-luck and half-chance. I had other plans and things that I wanted to do. I was interviewing for an internship with YouTube, but I had to let that go when we were cast in 'The Sing-Off.'"
He has done a lot of journalism work at USC, "but like my dad says," adds Gaynor, "you end up graviating toward what you're good at. So I ended up looping back to music.
You can catch Gaynor in Cardinal Theater Production's RENT on Jan. 24-25.
NBC's "The Sing-Off" premieres this Monday Dec. 9th, at 9 p.m. PST.
