Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ashley Hess of Nashville auditions on American Idol. (ABC Photo)

The 27-year old from Fremont, Calif., wowed the American Idol judges with her version of “Don’t Know Why” by Norah Jones.

Katy Perry proclaimed she could win Season 17 of Idol.

Lionel Richie went a step farther, suggesting she could “knock it out of the park” and calling her voice “fabulous.”

As for Luke Bryan, he was amazed by Ashley’s vocal control.

Ashley told Idol she’s always been torn between following her dreams of becoming an artist and doing something more practical.

In the process, she admits she discovedd that “cleaning people’s teeth is not as much fun, for some reason, my 18-year-old self thought it would be.”

She’s been dabbling in music all along, releasing a debut EP in 2013, posting a YouTube video of Disney covers that’s been viewed 5 million — yep, 5 million — times and releasing three singles over the past two years.

Now she’s Hollywood bound on American Idol.