Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, with a surprise guest perched on his shoulder, at the American Idol Season 21 auditions. (ABC Photo)

American Idol returns to ABC Sunday night at 8 p.m. when we’ll meet the first batch of Hollywood-bound Season 21 contestants.

Back as Idol judges for the sixth straight season will be the trio of Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.

And Idol has already leaked videos featuring the auditions of two golden ticket recipients, Haven Madison and Colin Stough.

Haven, 16, from Clarksville, Tenn., dazzles the judges with an original song called “Fifteen.” Lionel commends her a “magical voice” and on her “incredible” song-writing ability.

And that isn’t just American Idol hyperbole, folks. “Fifteen” is an amazing song and one Haven has already released, complete with a music video you can check out here.

The other leaked audition features Colin Stough, 18, from the Amory, Mississippi. He auditioned with “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, showing off a nice tone, a bit of rasp and lots of vocal firepower on the chorus.

He, too, had the Idol judges raving over his raw talent. “You’ve got the magic in you,” Katy told Colin. He’s bound for Hollywood after getting unanimous yes votes from the judges.

Based on photos ABC has already released from Sunday’s show, those are two of about a dozen contestants we’ll meet. Others will likely include Megan Daneille and Michael Williams, both of whom previously competed on The Voice.

I’ve compiled profiles of nearly 50 Season 21 Idol contestants rumored to have done well on the show. Links to those appear below. Like Haven, several have already released music you can listen to now.

Adin Boyer

William Guy Tongi