Temecula teen turns from cyber star to singing sensation on ‘X Factor’

Last night’s performance on Season 2 of “The X Factor” wasn’t the first time Trevor Moran made a splash on a national stage.

Temecula resident Trevor Moran performs on the FOX singing competition "The X Factor." (Credit: Facebook)

The 13-year-old Temecula resident is a YouTube phenomenon and has turned heads as the dancing star on an Apple Store camera.

That video went viral and now Trevor can now add rave reviews from judges Simon Cowell, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, and L.A. Reid to his list of growing accolades.

Trevor received a standing ovation for his rendition of “I’m Sexy and I Know It” that aired Thursday night on the popular singing competition hosted by Cowell.

“That might not have been exactly age appropriate,” laughed Cowell.

But, four ‘yes’ votes granted Trevor the opportunity to head on to X Factor Boot Camp.

Backstage, mother Nicole and Temecula voice and stage presence coach Gwyn Sanborn were ready to embrace Trevor with open arms and congratulations.

“Trevor has been my student for four years, on and off,” said Sanborn, “and he is a born entertainer.”

Regarding his song choice, which so often can make or break an audition, Sanborn admitted she was hesitant for Trevor.

“We had five songs prepared for the show. When he decided on the song, “I’m Sexy and I Know It,” I tried to dissuade him. He insisted on showing me his version, and as soon as he tried it, he shined. It was Trevor. He had that X Factor performing, and he totally rocked it.”

On meeting the judges in person and standing on “The X Factor” stage, Trevor said, “I thought I was dreaming. And then, I realized, ‘Woah! This is real!’ I was totally speechless listening to their comments. It was unreal.”

Keeping quiet on the results has been fun for both Trevor and his mother.

“It was a great surprise, and it’s interesting to see how they edited the incident with his dehydration, and the show. No one knew how great he really did,” Nicole said.

Trevor added, “It was a nice surprise for all of my friends.”

Now, with the Boot Camp phase of the pre-taped show, Sanborn and the Morans are mute on what happens next, however, they are thrilled at the growing number of Internet followers Trevor has amassed.

At the writing of this piece, he stands at over 38,000 Twitter followers.

“The exposure Trevor is receiving is amazing,” Sanborn said, “and last night, during the show, Trevor was the number one trending tweet on www.twitter.com.”

“I never expected it to reach this level. At first, he started making and posting YouTube videos, and I was not happy about it. Then, he starts dancing in public, and posting the Apple Dancing videos, and I thought, ‘This is not okay!’ but, then I realized that this is just Trevor. He lives to entertain, and laugh, and smile, and this is how kids show their stuff, and get out there. I’m so proud of him, and just keep an eye open to make sure he’s safe,” Nicole said.

Sanborn agreed: “Trevor is a great kid with a fantastic personality, and he takes his singing and dancing more seriously than you may think when you watch him on “The X Factor” or YouTube. His art is very important to him.”

So, with 58 YouTube videos, 80,000 online fans to his credit and a new national audience for the X Factor Boot Camp, what’s next for Trevor?

The cyber-star-turned-singing-sensation said he is hoping fans will re-tweet his plea to Ellen DeGeneres, asking: “Can we trend #GetTrevorMoranOnEllen?!”

To learn more, visit www.thexfactorusa.com.

Ashley Ludwig is a local writer and regular contributor to SWRNN.