In Sinatra's Footsteps

Becoming Hoboken's official Frank Sinatra Idol was not something Eric DeLauro had anticipated. At all. 

"Some neighbors had told me there was  going to be a sing-a-long," DeLauro said during a recent interview. What he didn't know, is that the "sing-a-long"—which took place about a year and a half ago in Pier A Park—was a real competition, with professional singers competing. 

So, DeLauro signed up, excited to pay homage to Hoboken's most famous resident and ended up winning. 

"If somebody's going to give you a title, it's a nice title to have," DeLauro said about his Idol status. 

When Director of Cultural Affairs Geri Fallo called him up a few days before the competition, DeLauro said, he was more than surprised.

"She wanted all this info, my repertoire," he said. "I told her: 'I don't have any of that.'" He was the only participant who used a sheet for lyrics, and didn't wear a bow tie, he said.

DeLauro, 48, entered the competition, which was broadcast on television and covered by local media, and wasn't worried about winning at all. Looking back, he said, that's probably why he did so well on that 95º day in Pier A Park. 

As the Frank Sinatra Idol DeLauro aims to pay homage to Sinatra. 

"There's only one Mr. Sinatra," he said, "and we all want him back."

DeLauro grew up in Rutherford in a family of longshoremen and has been living in Hoboken since 1998, which is the year Frank Sinatra passed away. DeLauro who has been unemployed since February, also has experience as a DJ. Now, he primarily performs Sinatra music at events and functions in Hoboken and surroundings. Not all performances are paid though, DeLauro said, and he said he appreciates free meals in return for a performance too.

"It's kind of a struggle," he said. 

But even in these tough economic times, DeLauro said he performs on average once a week. 

When asked what his favorite Sinatra songs are, DeLauro immediately answered that that question is too tough to answer. How does one choose a favorite from 2,000 songs? 

Although DeLauro usually performs in party environments—where the favorites are classics "My Way," and "You Make Me Feel So Young"—he said he prefers to sing Sinatra's softer love ballads. DeLauro has never been married, he said, and doesnt' have any children. 

His own favorite song to sing is "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" a ballad about a man's struggles to capture the woman he loves, DeLauro said. "And that's a good thing to sing about, isn't it?"