Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Payton Riley plans to release ‘Fireflies,’ the song she sang on American Idol, and already has other music out. (ABC Photo)

So have you been enjoying the original songs artists have been performing during the American Idol auditions?

If so, you can likely stream or download full versions of those same songs.

I’ve long applauded Idol for allowing contestants to audition with originals.

Hey, if a singer feels confident enough in the song they’ve written to audition with it rather than an oft-heard cover, why not?

Long gone are the days when Idol wanted us to believe all its contestants were complete novices — aspiring singers who showed up with hordes of others for an audition, hoping they’d someday get to release music. When, in truth, some already had.

These days, Idol is more inclined to help those aspiring artists tie the release of their new music to the airing of their audition.

Take last week. We heard originals from three singers. Two had released the song they performed for the judges just days before; the third announced her song was available for pre-save or pre-order.

Here’s a look at what we’ve heard and the status of those releases. The links take you to he music on Spotify.

Conall Gorman: The 19-year-old from Mountclair, N.J., got a unanimous ticket to Hollywood after performing an original called “Backseat” on Sunday’s episode. He had released the song as his debut single three days earlier.

Lillian Hackett: We only saw a short clip on Lillian, 17, but judges were clearly impressed with “Tennessee,” the original performed by the Lovettsville, Va. teen. It’s also her debut single, landing two days before her audition aired.

Payton Riley: She’s the 15-year-old who wound up breaking down in tears as she talked about “Fireflies,” her original breakup song. Turns out Riley has been releasing music since 2021, to the tune of 8 singles and an EP. She’s already released “Mascara Doesn’t Lie” and “Not as Much as I Used To” this year. “Fireflies” is coming soon. And she named Young Artist of the Year by the Texas Country Music Association in November.

Will Moseley: The last artist featured on the third audition episode, Will dazzled the judges with a song called “Gone for Good.” The 23-year-old from Hazelhurst, Ga., released the song in September and it already has 360,000 streams on Spotify. He has three other songs out as well.

Aniston Pate: She appeared in the same episode, singing “Humminbird,” a song about her mom. It’ll be out on March 29. To tide you over, the 20-year-old Texan, has already released a pair of singles and an EP.

CJ Rislove: He’s the 22-year-old nomad who travels around performing in a restored bus he calls the Jazz Wagon. He performed “Astronaut and the Rockstar” on the show and released that song as part of — now get this — a 29-song demo project. It hit Spotify in mid-March.

Emmy Russell: Have Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter audition with “Skinny,” a song she released with Song House in Nashville was a no-brainer. Released last summer, the song’s been streamed more than 600,000 times on Spotify. Since Idol’s premiere, she’s released two more singles, “Beautiful Things” and “Breakup Song.”

Sam Kelly-Cohen, aka Kayko: The 23-year-old from Florida has released music as Kayko and as Your Best Friend’s Favorite Band. That includes his audition song, “Time of Your Life,” which he re-released in two versions in early February.

Jack Blocker: The 25-year-old has released lots of music, solo and as part of a musical duo called “Rightfield.” He auditioned with one of his solo singles, “I Was Wrong.” Released last fall, it has nearly 100,00 streams on Spotify.

American Idol airs its final audition episode Sunday at 8 p.m. and we’ll hear at least one more original.

In a leaked audition, 17-year-old Liliana Tover Dalton impresses the judges with her song “5 Percent.”

No word yet on when “5 Percent” will be released, but the Texas teen has a song called “Wish You Cheated” on streaming sites. With more than 300,000 streams on Spotify. She released it about a year ago as LILIana.

29 songs in conjunction with his appearance on American Idol. That includes the one he performed for the judges. (ABC Photo)” width=”775″ height=”406″ class=”size-full wp-image-114173″ /> CJ Rislove released demos for 29 songs in conjunction with his appearance on American Idol. That includes the one he performed for the judges. (ABC Photo)