The American Idol reboot is back and things are more interesting than ever!
Sunday night, March 25, was the fifth episode of season 16 of the singing competition that started it all for people like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.
The show might have an entire set of new faces working as the judges, but the formula is still the same! Contestants audition to see if they can make it to Hollywood.
For season 16, pop star Katy Perry, country singer Luke Bryan, and musical legend Lionel Richie are the judges who get to choose who will get the Golden Ticket.
On this week’s episode, Jurnee, a hostess from Denver, Colorado took the stage to try and make it to Hollywood.
Jurnee started singing at when she was just 2 years old and was then writing her own music by the time she was 7.
During her pre-taped introduction video, Jurnee talked about what it was like for her to come out as a lesbian and what made her realize that she was.
“At times I would be dating guys just to test out if I was missing out on anything and I realized guys were not my cup of tea!”
Jurnee said that her family was extremely supportive and it has been “rainbows, quite literally” ever since.
Jurnee met her soulmate, Ashley, at a party, she proposed on a waterfall and they got married shortly after. Her wife is a soldier in the Army and is set to be deployed soon.
“My wife’s a huge supporter of my singing. It means everything to me to make her proud. She really helped me find myself. Really knowing who I am, has given me the chance to change my entire life.”
Right before she went in to meet the judges, Jurnee called Ashley so her wife could wish her good luck one final time before she had her big audition.
For her audition, Jurnee chose to sing Andra Day‘s hit song, “Rise Up.”
If you’ve seen any of the advertisements for the new show Rise, you might honestly think it was Jurnee singing the show’s theme song after hearing this audition. Jurnee sounds a lot like Andra!
After she was done singing, Luke told her that she was fantastic, meanwhile, Katy really wanted to know what Jurnee’s “real name” was. And her name is, in fact, Jurnee!
Luke Bryan managed to sneak in a bad dad pun joke. But Katy has a reason for why she asked, she told the 18-year-old.
“Well maybe, there is a story in your name that you had to go on a journey to get to where you want to be. You’re like a little bird, you sing so effortlessly, I believe it.”
Lionel Richie gave Jurnee the highest compliment that a man of his talent could!
“Vocal command is just everything to me. I’ve always marveled at people who can just sit there and make a run and every note is perfect down the run. I am just sitting here amazed!”
You can see more of what the judges thought about Jurnee’s audition and find out if she’s going to Hollywood!
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