He had the right look and a generally good singing voice, but song choice hurt Luke Menard early in the American Idol competition. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, maybe a jarring recollection will: Menard is the one who sang “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” the 80s Wham hit. If he had sung anything different, it’s possible we would all know Luke Menard a whole lot better.

Luke Menard, 29, has been frequently in the audience during the seventh season of Idol, rooting his fellow contestants on from the sidelines. Recently, the former carpet-layer was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer. This sad news is somewhat lightened by one positive: this disease has a very high success rate of treatment. Menard, who is currently in L.A., has plans to return home to Indiana in the near future.