Watch: ‘American Idol’ Contestant Auditions With Toy Microphone

Alanis Sophia American Idol

ABC/John Fleenor

On each season of American Idolthousands of hopefuls audition hoping for a Golden Ticket through to Hollywood Week, and contestant Alanis Sophia was one of those performers this time around.

Sophia auditioned for American Idol judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. She told them that she was named after Alanis Morisette because her mother was inspired by the singer.

“My mom is, like, one of her die-hard fans,” Sophia told the judges, sharing that her mom was just 19 years old when she had her and had been going through a tough time. “Alanis Morissette pretty much saved her.”


Sophia Sang Demi Lovato’s ‘Anyone’

When asked about why she decided to try out for American Idol, Sophia said that her mother got her a toy when she was younger that said “You’re going to Hollywood!” on the side and that trying out for the show had always been a dream for her.

When she broke into the first verse of “Anyone,” the judges were instantly impressed. Sophia even held up the toy microphone as she was singing. Even Luke Bryan seemed to get emotional as the performer sang the emotional song.

“Alanis, you have just enough confidence, but you are also pure,” Perry said. “You really are selling your voice, yourself, your story, all of it, and you are doing it so well already. And you don’t even know it… It’s just natural.”

Richie added that he loved the purity in the singer’s voice and personality, “I was enjoying the simplicity of your craft.”


Sophia is an Early Front-Runner

For the judges and fans of American Idol, Alanis Sophia emerged as an early front-runner to win the show this season.

“You just walked out here and sang, and it was real and it was honest,” Bryan said.

Perry added, “You held up your little mic. And you did it with all the sincerity in the world, and I believed it.”

Sophia’s mother was then brought into the room, and she said that she named her daughter Alanis because she knew she was going to go far in life just “like Alanis Morisette.”

“Well, she’s the best we’ve seen today,” Perry told the mother and daughter.

Sophia ended up getting three enthusiastic yes votes from the American Idol judges and earned a golden ticket to Hollywood and the next round of the competition.

Sophia already has quite the following on her Instagram, where she is verified and has over 80,000 followers at the time of writing.

She posted about her audition, writing, “the amount of love and support that I’ve received is incredibly overwhelming, but in a good way. My heart is just exploding with absolute pure happiness, reading through the comments. I think little me would definitely think I’m super cool and feel very proud.”

She thanked all three of the American Idol judges for believing in her and giving her the ticket to move forward in the season.

American Idol airs at 8 p.m. on Sundays on ABC.

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