Hi  - Other editors might see it differently, for you are right, there is a certain amount of subjectivity to this.  But you're best argument is on the first criteria you mention.  The CO state championship I don't believe would qualify, and I'm not sure the Grand Master competition would either - there's not a lot of media about that either.  In addition, that claim is uncited, so if you hang your hat on his being a finalist in that, you'll need to provide proof.  Oh, and did he finish 2nd?  If not, that wouldn't qualify anyway.

 The second criteria he clearly doesn't meet since he neither won nor was nominated.

 The third criteria would have to be about a network television show, or a show which was syndicated, not some local show.

 I did some quick searches, and really couldn't find much about him.  The best article I found was this: Magnolia Music Studio, but even that only mentions him in passing. Do you know of any articles about him in mainstream papers?  The Denver Post?  Denver Tribune?  Rocky Mountain News? Or one of the Nashville papers?  That would really help.

 I have to say, the article is written not too badly.  There are some formatting issues (section headings, raw links in the text (that's a no-no), and some prose issues (very short paragraphs).  But so much better than most first time efforts.  I wish I could have found more sources, but sometimes when something is so specialized it's difficult.  I hope I've helped.