Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Canaan James Hill with Lionel Richie during Sunday’s audition episode of American Idol. (ABC Photo)

American Idol aired its final audition episode of Season 23 Sunday night.

And the show squeezed lots of Hollywood-bound artists — 21, in fact — into a two-hour episode.

That meant very brief introductions to some very talented singers. You can find out more about many of them by following the links below.

Idol also revealed its third platinum ticket recipient for Season 23 — Canaan James Hill.

He’ll join Filo and Kolbi Jordan in getting to skip the first round of Hollywood Week. Those episodes begin airing Monday.

BEST OF THE NIGHT

Canaan James Hill, 17, Dallas, Tx., “I Need Your Glory” by Earnest Pugh: He graduated high school early and plans to become a preacher. And his grandfather is his musical inspiration. Wow, no doubt, Idol saved one of the most impressive voices for the last audition of Season 23. Canaan showed off a wonderful voice and tone early in the performance. Then he took American Idol to church as the song swells. Lionel calls his performance “powerful.” Carrie and Luke loved the audition as well. And Lionel instantly decided Canaan deserved the last platinum ticket for Season 23.

Clara Rae, 22, Monroe, La., “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons: She walked into the audition room looking like a female country singer, then announced she planned to sing a country-rock song. Hey, I really liked her take on this song. And her unique sound. Luke asked her to do a couple of lines a cappella, and she nailed it. Carrie said she has a “super cool” voice. Lionel loves her rasp. Luke says she’s one of his favorite voices he’s heard in the Nashville auditions. No idea why Idol hasn’t uploaded a video of her audition yet, but they should.

Will Carter, 24, St. John’s, Newfoundland, “Dreams” (an original): He’s a hockey coach in Canada. He’s sang an original inspired by his mother, who died of breast cancer. Will said she was a huge fan of Idol and always told him he should do something with his music. Carrie called it a great song. Luke says he thought it “was incredible.” Lionel loved it too. And they’re right, it’s an excellent song, so much so that Carrie was singing it as Will left the audition room.

Also made the show:

Samantha Ray, 22, Ila, Ga., “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack: She grew up watching the show and singing with her sister, Taylor. In February of last year, she lost Taylor to a drug overdose and said wshe was thinking of her during this performance. That brought Carrie Underwood to tears. She called the performance “really special.” Lionel said she did the song perfectly. She got three yes votes to advance.

Kaleo Knight, 16, Los Angeles, Calif., “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” by Jennifer Hudson: She grew up doing hula dance and speaks Japanese. She’s also blessed with a pretty tone and a big voice, evident in her opening. She delivered on the big ending too. She got a standing ovation from the judges. Lionel called the audition “crazy good.” Luke praised her for having the best 16-year-old voice “we’ve heard in this competition.” She got a golden ticket, of course.

Kyana Fanene, 28, San Leandro, Calif, “Unaware” by Allen Stone: Idol’s bio bar identifies her as a background singer. She says she’s been pursuing music for a long time. Luke loved her performance from the first note. Lionel loved her artistic style. And Kyana breezed to Hollywood with three “yes” votes.

Zaylie Windsor, 18, Safford, Ariz, The Used (an original): Another talented female singer-songwriter. Carrie liked her Taylor Swift-like quality and the dynamics in her voice. She fought hard for Zaylie to get a golden ticket, especially after Luke voted no. Carrie won Lionel over so Zaylie’s going to Hollywood.

JMarie, 28, Brooklyn, N.Y., “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood: She calls Carrie’s hit a “hood anthem.” She sure puts the soul on that hit. And the judges love her version. Carrie included, who compliments JMarie for making the song her own and only hopes she’d tried out earlier.

Yani, 26, Tabernacle, N.J., “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” by Carrie Underwood: She shows off a big voice and a clever personality. And advances on a 2-1 vote, with Luke casting the “no.” Carrie said she couldn’t say “no” to “that voice.”

Trent Wright, 23, Helena, Mont., “Rich Girl” by Hall and Oates: He’s never performed in front of anyone. Carrie says he has a lot of raw mold-able talent. He get tips on performing from Luke and Lionel. And winds up with a golden ticket, though the judges warn him he has lots of work to do to survive the next round.

Ethan Senger, 24, Woodstock, Ga., “Somebody Like You” by Keith Urban: He shows off a good voice, but Luke gets him to slow down the song to better hear his voice. Luke says he has some cool things going on. Lionel likes his potential. They then bring in his mom in so they can sing a bit of “Falling Slowly” together.

Landynn Kennedy, 20, Kingstree, S.C., “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt: He says he was abandoned in a hotel room with his siblings to perish. He and his siblings were eventually adopted by his current family. Carrie says he has amazing raw talent. Luke called his audition a “beautiful” performance. And Landynn breezes to Hollywood with 3 yes votes.

Caroline Brett, 17, Orlando, Fla., “House of the Rising Sun”: Wow, she showed off a big voice tackling that classic. Lionel called her an “oh-my-goodness.” In the best way, he confirms. Luke complimented her on an “amazing” voice.

Nikki Rodrigues, 17, Buffalo Grove, Ill., “July: by Leon Bridges and Noah Cyrus: She did a little victory jump and proclaimed “I killed that” before the judges even gave her a critique. Fans saw just a snippet of her performance, but it did sound impressive.

Gabe James, 23, Morrison Co., “Skinny Love” by Bon Ivers: He got three “yeses” in an abbreviated audition. Carrie compared him to Patrick Swayze. Gabe doesn’t know who that is, but says he’s honored after learning he was the lead actor in “Dirty Dancing.”

Lexi Tieffel, 16, Champaign, Ill., “Girl Crush,” by Little Big Town: Her nickname is Loudmouth Lexi which prompted Carrie to reveal that her nickname was Scary Underwear. We didn’t get to hear much of Lexi’s audition, but she sounded great on what we did and seemed pretty fearless for a contestant so young.

Olivier Bergeron, 22, Kedgwick, New Brunswick, Canada, “Save Me” by Jelly Roll: This guy has released lots of music, but all of it is in French. He delivered a impassioned version of the song. Lionel likes his unique style.

Cal Buckley, 20, Ontario, Canada: Luke called him a Canadian Elvis. We saw just a tiny snippet of his audition during a montage of singers from above the border.

Sarah Day, 23, Alberta, Canada, “Wolves” by Jensen McRae: We heard just a snippet of her audition, but she sounded great while accompanying herself on piano. Carrie complimented her on a beautiful voice.

Santina Maddeen, 20, Yonkers, N.Y., “Die with a Smile” by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga: She showed up with a violin and a stuffed pillow dog named Duchess. But with a big voice too. She played the violin.

Malik Bilbrew, 24, Jacksonville, Fla., “Remedy” by Adele: He showed up with an emotional support alpaca in miniature. Luke said he loved his voice.

Clara Rae performs Radioactive for the American Idol judges. (ABC Photo)