'American Idol's Final Platinum Ticket Winner Wows Judges

Julia Gagnon

It was the final night of auditions for American Idol Season 7 on ABC and judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan still hadn’t awarded the third Platinum Ticket of the season, despite there having been some excellent performances.

Then 21-year-old Julia Gagnon from Cumberland, Maine, entered the room— the very last vocalist of the season—and she blew the judges away with her rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way.”

Lionel’s first response to Julia’s performance was, “Did that come out of your mouth?”

Luke said, “You hit the amazing falsetto and then you turned the volume down so beautiful.”

Katy agreed, “I loved that. Look, you've got several soul singers inside of you not just one. You could go really far. You could be Top 10.”

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Julia was grateful and gracious, thanking the judges. It was obvious she was getting the final Golden Ticket to Hollywood of the year.

Lionel said, “I’m in shock. I grew up [listening to] Aretha Franklin. There are certain songs you just don't sing because you just can't touch the original and you just made it not only your song, but you did things that were just beyond. That was amazing. That was absolutely outstanding. I'm going to vote. I can't wait to get to it. Yes.”

Then Katy asked, “What's your mother's name?”

To which Julia, who was adopted when she was 2, responded, “Which one?”

Katy: “Your birth mama.”

Julia: “Sarah.”

Katy: “You're doing something big and it's for Sarah. It’s a yes.”

Then Luke asked her adoptive mother's name, and she replied, “Meg.”

Luke said, “We love Meg, too. I'm a yes,” which meant that Julia was going to Hollywood.

Related: American Idol Judges Award the Second Platinum Ticket to the 'Best Thing We've Ever Heard'

Outside the judging room, Julia said, “What I want to tell Sarah, my birth mother, is that you gave me the push that I needed. Everything happens for a reason.”

Back in the judging room, Lionel said to his fellow judges, “What was that? That was something to behold.”

Katy agreed, “She was amazing.”

And Luke chimed in, “Probably one of the biggest voices all season.”

Lionel added, “That was an Arthea Franklin song and she slayed it. On top of that, it's just another level.”

Luke pointed out that Julia was still there, so the judges went out to award her the third and final Platinum Ticket for the season.

Katy told Julia and her family, “We forgot to do something.”

And Luke took back her Golden Ticket.

But before Julia could panic too much, Lionel said, “We had a little discussion. Every once in a while, we have someone that comes along that's just phenomenal. We have Platinum Tickets—only three. We only have one left, so I want to tell you that you are the recipient of our third Platinum Ticket. You deserve it. It was one of the most amazing performances we've ever seen.”

In addition to her fabulous vocals, Julia also had a touching story. As mentioned, she had been adopted when she was 2 years old out of an orphanage in Guatemala and brought to Maine.

“Growing up in Maine when I was younger was a dream come true,” Julia said in her video package. “It was picture perfect. There was snow at Christmas and warm summers. It was all amazing. When I entered the school systems, it became different. I got bullied a lot. People in Maine don’t look like me and it was really hard to deal with. It still is hard to talk about. I don't think I have ever found a place where I feel like I fit in, but I have found my support in life and that is my family.”

But when she turned 18, she went to her father and asked him to help her find her biological mother. She said, “It has nothing to do with you. I just need to know,” and he was very understanding. He hired a private detective, who managed to track down her bio mom and Julia is very grateful.

“When they found my birth mom, she wrote me a letter,” Julia said. “She thanked God that my parents raised me for her, but she was very apologetic. She did let me know that she didn't want me to go but she was happy that I did because the life that she could have given me wouldn't have been anything compared to the one that my real parents gave me. My birth mom knows I can sing, and she said that she would love to live to see me do something big.”

So, that’s why Julia found the courage to audition for American Idol. She wanted to do something that Sarah could see.

The final night of American Idol auditions aired tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC. Next Sunday, the Hollywood episodes begin.

Next, American Idol Judges Give Out the First Platinum Ticket to the ‘Best Soul Singer of the Season'