Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Landry Champlin of American Idol Season 23

Idol officially kicked off Season 23 Sunday night with Carrie Underwood joining Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie at the judges’ table.

Auditions will continue to air Sunday nights on ABC.

Here’s more about Landry.

* She’s a New York based actress singer and dancer with lots of performance experience.

* Landry recently wrapped up a run with the show “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Fla.

* Starting out as an understudy, Landry eventually stepped into the role of songwriter Cynthia Weil. “This experience pushed me outside of my comfort zone in more ways than I can count,” Landry writes on Instagram. “The bottom line is, continue to do things that scare you – it’s worth it!”

* And over the summer, Landry performed in “Rock of Ages” at the Sharon Playhouse in Connecticut and produced an Elvis Presley show at 54 Below in New York.

* She also performs as part of a three-girl group called the Honky Tonk Chicks. “Blame it all on my roots,” writes Landry, who’s from Colleyville, Texas.

* About those roots — on her website, she says she entered the world of entertainment at age 14 when she started competing in Miss America pageants in Texas in spite of a lack of confidence due to a rare speech imediment.

* She wound up finishing Top 5 for six consecutive years and was 1st runner-up in the Miss Texas competition in 2021 and 2022.

* As a result, pageant coaching has become her “side hustle.” She works with Miss America contestants through her business, Pageant Prep by Landry.”

* She also created her own nonprofit, The Live Fearless Foundation and published a children’s book, “Fiona the Fearless Fox.”

* Landry graduated from Oklahoma City University with a degree in musical theater in 2023.

* She’s also a big Taylor Swift fan. You can check out her cover of “Story of Us” here.

Landry on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube