Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Athena Jett enters the American Idol audition room with her younger sister Angelica. (ABC Photo)

Athena Jett is one of the artists we’ll meet during the American Idol auditions.

The judging trio of Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie is back for Season 22, which kicked off last month. Auditions will continue to air through March 24.

Here’s more about Athena.

* She’s a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Las Vegas who’s specialty is jazz. She’s also studying computer science at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

* Athena has released a pair of singles this year, both co-written with Luke-Michael Baker. Who, by the way, also auditioned.

* Her debut single, which dropped in late February is called “The Gamble” and was inspired in part by her parents, Karina and Chip, both of whom are professional poker players.

* Writes Athena: “I wanted to highlight the risk/reward of both gambling and love. Both are high risk, both you put your whole heart into, and both are a game that you could lose everything for.” Oh, and she admits her mom came up with idea for a poker / love song.

* Just this week, she released a followup called “With You.” Athena says it started off as a “sweet little jazz-sounding song.” Until she and Luke Michael got into the studio and “it went in a totally different direction. Groovy with a splash of pop folk.” Check out the lyric video below.

* Meanwhile, her audition has been featured in American Idol promos, with Katy Perry calling it one of her favorites of Season 22.

* That’s because Athena’s 12-year-old sister Angelina accompanied her into the audition room. And apparently suggested a song switch for her sister. Which apparently went pretty well.

* According to her Spotify bio, Athena started singing about 10 years ago and started performing jazz gigs in 2021.

* PokerNews interviewed her about her upcoming appearance on Idol. She told the site a turning point came when she was 14 and discovered the music of the late jazz great Ella Fitzgerald.

* “She is my number one idol in the world,” Athena told this site. “I don’t think there’s an Ella Fitzgerald song I don’t like.”

* Her Spotify bio indicates she’s feeling more comfortable experimenting with different genres these days and her dream is to “inspire others in the same way her idols have inspired her.”

Athena on social media:
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