'American Idol' Star Katy Perry Was Stunned Hearing a Contestant's Powerful Audition
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Auditions for American Idol season 5 (the show’s overall 20th season) officially concluded on Sunday night — but not before contestant Douglas Mills Jr. took the stage. After leaving the American Idol judges speechless with his performance, Katy Perry was on a mission to figure out why he had hidden his talent from them for so long.
As it turns out, Douglas wasn’t even planning on trying out — that is, until he was surprised with a silver American Idol ticket from his high school. When he finally faced Katy, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, Douglas understandably felt nervous. But that was all forgotten when the 18-year-old student sang “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday as a tribute to the Black community. While her fellow American Idol judges tried to collect themselves afterward, Katy took the lead with a few questions.
“How come you’ve never tried out for our show before?” Katy said.
Douglas revealed that he'd shied away from the opportunity before because of other people’s opinions. After hearing this, the “Dark Horse” singer didn’t hold back. “Oh, those people can go to H-E-double hockey sticks,” Katy said. “Are you kidding me? Is that really why you never tried out?”
The Texas native also opened up about being “scared” to fail and Katy reassured him that wasn’t possible. “You’re a superstar,” she said. “You transcend time and space. You froze the room. That was iconic.”
With that, Douglas grabbed his golden ticket to Hollywood and American Idol fans watching from home instantly agreed with the judge's reaction. “Katy is so right. His singing honestly transcends time and space. For a brief few minutes, I felt like [I] was in a different place. Just amazing,” one person wrote on YouTube.
Though many folks only heard Douglas sing for a few minutes, it was enough to convince them that he could go all the way in the competition. “He was undeniably the best of the night! I believe the reassurance by the judges of how magnificent he is, will catapult him into his next level. Top 5, perhaps the winner, I’m calling it!” a follower commented. “Haunting, amazing, soul stirring, fantastic! Great job young man,” a different fan said.
Unsurprisingly, Lionel and Luke were just as blown away by Douglas’ powerful rendition of Billie’s protest anthem. “You know what you don’t need? Charts. You don’t need pop charts, R&B charts. You’re off the charts. In fact, you might even create one of your own,” Lionel said. “That was like you took our bodies and you hypnotized us. You just took us on a journey. You controlled every second of that. I don’t know. I’m speechless about it,” Luke added.
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