Gabi Mercaldo says she’s been singing since she was just 2 years old “for dinner guests and small things like that.” Those small things developed into enough experience that she got a golden ticket at the Idol audiitons in Galveston. Gabi says she’d like to use her music to help people from broken homes and…
Erica Young started singing in her father’s church when she was young. And that’s all it took to hook her. “I really knew that’s what I wanted to do.” Erica, of Alamogordo, N.M., was 28 when she tried out and admits that her friends threatened her to do it, in part because it’s her last year…
Eric Burton recalls how his grandmother made him join the choir in church. “I’m like, ‘OK, grandma.” What surprised him is, it wasn’t that bad. “I remember it being very, very liberating,” he says in his golden ticket interview. “I was really taken by just performing.” So years later, there he was, in Galveston, Texas,…
Here’s a different sort of American Idol contestant — a male singer who looked forward to meeting Steven Tyler. Dylan Loza says that’s because Steven has “been one of my favorite artists for a long time.” Of course, he didn’t mind meeting Jennifer Lopez either because he’s “had a crush on her forever.” Dylan hails…
Crystal Omondi says her first musical performance “scarred me for life,” but she says it with a laugh. She was 5 and getting down to the Spice girls, not knowing that her brother and his friends were playing video games just outside. “So I come out full force, coreography and everything from this music video,…
Cosette Fife admits she was suprised to get to audition in front of the Idol judges after traveling to Galveston. The fact that she wound up with a golden ticket “is insane,” she says. Her parents have always encouraged her love of music, says the teen from Gilbert, Ariz. She first started performing in front…
Clayton Farhat first appeared on stage at the age of 6 or 7. And he remembers it well. His grandfather played in a bluegrass band and bribed him with a $5 bill. “Of course, when you’re 6 or 7, $5 is a lot of money,” Clayton says in his golden ticket interview. “So I got…
Chris Lawrence had a simple reason for auditioning for American Idol Season 11. He made it to Hollywood last year, but got eliminated there. “I had this bug under me to get back to Hollywood and prove to the judges and everyone I could go farther,” he says in his golden ticket interview. Chris, of St….
Lots of contestants classify receiving a golden ticket to Hollywood on American Idol as a pleasant surprise. Cari Quoyeser said her feeling after auditioning and advancing was one of “sheer relief.” Perhaps that’s because of high expectations. She’s not exactly a novice at this music business. She has sung lead vocals and played rhythm guitar…
Blair Monzingo traveled all the way from Albertson, N.C., to audition for American Idol in Texas. And after journeying all that way, she said she was thrilled to get a golden ticket despite having bronchitis. She lives just 45 minutes away from Scotty McCreery’s hometown, so it’s no surprise she lists him as her favorite…
