‘Building the Band' Fan Favorite, 22, Shares His Favorite Taylor Swift and Harry Styles Songs — Fans Are Swooning

Yahoo

17-07-2025

'Building the Band' Fan Favorite, 22, Shares His Favorite Taylor Swift and Harry Styles Songs — Fans Are Swooning originally appeared on Parade.
Despite some controversy in more recent episodes — with his budding romance Allison Ogden hindering his band's performance — Building the Band star Conor Smith has already become a fan favorite with his Harry Styles-inspired look and overall bad boy persona. Combine that with his stellar singing skills, and he is the total package!
For those who are unfamiliar, Conor is currently a contestant on Netflix's newest competition series, Building the Band, which sees "solo singers collide to form six new groups, each chasing one shot at stardom."
According to Netflix, "In the initial phase of the first-of-its-kind music competition, participants took part in blind auditions, listening to one another sing from their individual sound booths," but with all six bands finally formed, "they'll move from the booths into shared apartments and put everything they have into vocal coaching, crafting a cohesive group image and more."
Hosted by Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean — with Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger serving as a mentor, as well as Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland late One Direction member Liam Payne serving as guest judges — this show is already a must-see for music lovers everywhere.
Despite wanting to sing Taylor Swift's "Cruel Summer" for his Building the Band audition, Conor earned five likes after singing Olivia Rodrigo's "Driver's License," ultimately securing a spot on band number four — AKA Midnight 'Til Morning — alongside Zach Newbould, Mason Watts and Shane Appell.
The group sang Coldplay's "Higher Power" in episode three — marking their first time singing together — followed by Billie Eilish's 'Ocean Eyes' in episode six, blowing the crowd away on both occasions.
In episode seven, though, Conor finds himself in quite a bit of controversy, spending a great deal of time with Allison and ultimately letting his band down due to his lack of commitment. As a result, their performance of 'Iris' by the Goo Goo Dolls unfortunately isn't up to par, leaving them at risk of elimination when Netflix's second batch of episodes concluded. Yikes!
Nevertheless, Conor is an individual who has intrigued fans of the reality television series, with TikTok users spamming the comment section of his account with questions about his life outside of Building the Band.
Telling Netflix that his musical inspirations are "Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Lana Del Rey" and his favorite bands are "One Direction, The Lumineers and The Rolling Stones," fans want to know some of his favorite songs specifically.
For example, underneath a TikTok video of the Aussie singing Taylor Swift's "Cruel Summer," one fan asked, "Fav Taylor song?? btw love ur voice," to which he swiftly (no pun intended) replied, "New Year's Day!"
Underneath the same TikTok video, another fan asked, "Random question buuut whats your fav Harry's song?" Needless to say, Conor shocked everyone when he replied with an unreleased tune: "Cherry or Make My Day (unreleased)." Talk about some serious taste!
With all things aside, will Midnight 'Til Morning have what it takes to turn their momentum around, ultimately winning Building the Band? Catch Netflix's third batch of episodes — including the finale of the series — when they hit the streaming service on Wednesday (July 23).
Fingers crossed Midnight 'Til Morning avoids elimination...
'Building the Band' Fan Favorite, 22, Shares His Favorite Taylor Swift and Harry Styles Songs — Fans Are Swooning first appeared on Parade on Jul 16, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 16, 2025, where it first appeared.