Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Lee Vasi auditions for American Idol Season 16. (ABC Photo)

Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan will be determining who does and doesn’t deserve golden tickets during the final audition episode of the first season of Idol on ABC.

Here’s more about Lee Vasi.

* That’s her stage name. Her real name is Halle Vargas-Sullivan and she’s a 20-year-old based in Fayetteville, N.C.

* Lee’s been performing most of her life. At age 9, she played the role of Nala in “The Lion King” on Broadway. She was with the show for a year and a half.

* She’s also appeared in a number of productions at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville, according to her interview with The Fayetteville Observer.

* In a more recent interview, Lee told the newspaper she’s stepped away from musical theater in the past couple of years to focus on her music. “Acting is cool and it’s great that I had so much experience with that growing up because it helps me as a performer in general. But I’m at a place where I want to be myself on stage. I want to be Lee Vasi. I want to show my personality. I want to do my thing, play my music and express myself that way.”

* As for her own music, here’s Lee says: “I call it Spanglish-pop-R&B. I use R&B chords and trap percussion, but I also incorporate Latin percussion and rhythms and sounds, and my lyrics are always bilingual because I’m multi-racial. So I feel like it’s important for me to express every part of who I am.”

* As an example, she recently posted a Spanglish cover of “Officially Missing You” and, on Facebook. And celebrated the fact that it’s already received more than 4,500 views.

* In keeping with that them, for her Idol audition, she performed “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” by Toni Braxton, along with “Como la Flor” by Selena.

On social media:
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Twitter: @leeleevasi
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