Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Add Jenny Beth Willis to the list of aspiring country singers who have advanced to the Vegas round on American Idol.

We met her in last Wednesday’s episode as part of the group Raisin’ Cain.

In fact, the group’s performance of “Sin Wagon” was one of the night’s highlights.

What Idol didn’t tell us is that the 17-year-old from Owensboro, Ky., had never performed the song before.

“I didn’t know the song at all,” she told WBKR radio in an interview you can hear here. “I was actually really fortunate to get in a really good group with all country girls. They helped me learn the song. And that song has tons and tons of words. But I somehow managed to pull it off.”

Jenny Beth initially auditioned for Idol when the show’s small-town bus tour stopped in Bowling Green. Eventually, that landed her in front of the Idol judges.

We didn’t see her audition, but Jenny Beth admits it took a bit of a nerve-wracking turn.

She was about 10 seconds into singing “Make the World Go Away” when Randy Jackson stopped her, saying someone so young should be singing something more current.

So she launched into “I Hope You Dance” and won the judges over. She told WBRK that Mariah Carey was especially complimentary.

Prior to Idol, Jenny Beth was lead vocalist in a trio called Straight Laced that also included Emily Willis and Quinton Pence.

The band opened the first-ever WBKR Taste of Country festival in 2011 and also performed at the World Equestrian Games and was a Kentucky state finalist in the Colgate Country Showdown.

You can check out one of the band’s originals — “Purple Heart” — below.

During her interview with WBKR, Jenny Beth was asked whether she’d been given a nickname by Nicki Minaj as so many of the other contestants have.

The answer: No. But her fellow contestants have given her one: Snow White because of her pale skin and dark hair.

“I’m super pale,” she says in her Road to Hollywood video. “Not a lot of people are super pale and OK with it. But I really like it.”

In fact, she says she’s hoping her different look — she also prefers “phoofy dresses” — sets her apart in Vegas.

Here are three videos of Jenny Beth performing.

“Purple Heart” (with Straight Laced)

“Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love” (with Straight Laced)

“White Liar” (with Straight Laced)