ABC/John Fleenor
On each season of American Idol, thousands of hopefuls audition hoping for a Golden Ticket through to Hollywood Week, and contestant Christian McGuckian was one of those performers this time around.
McGuckian performed in front of Idol judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. She chose to sing “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town for her audition, and after she was able to get over some of her nerves, the audition improved while the judges put in a personal touch to help her out.
“Listen, you have magical country stuff in your voice, but you’re letting everything around you getting in your way,” Luke Bryan told her.
McGuckian Says She Chose to Audition Because of a Car Accident
When she was talking about why she chose to audition for American Idol, McGuckian said it was because she’d been in a car accident that caused her to reevaluate her life. She told American Idol that she realized that if she had died in the accident, she wouldn’t have been happy with her life as it was, so she wanted to make a change.
“This way I can at least say ‘I tried my best,'” she said.
Bryan told the performer after she sang that he thought she needed a lot of work, especially when it came to timing.
“I don’t want to put you on a stage in Hollywood and suddenly you’re out of time,” he said.
The Judges Helped McGuckian Get Over Her Nerves
TONIGHT! Watch me audition for @AmericanIdol at 8/7c on @ABCNetwork. Who’s excited?! #AmericanIdol #IdolTonight #ChristianOnIdol
The judges helped the contestant get over her nerves in order to see if she could sing on time.
“You have the most beautiful blue eyes ever,” Perry told her before her second performance.
The judges loved the performance so much, and they all very obviously wanted her to do well, cheering for her when she got through the second time.
“You’ve got some things to work on!” Perry said.
Bryan added, “You have magical things going on, or we would not have dedicated all of that to you. We have these country girl singers in here, and they try to sing country, and they try to act country, but you can tell that they’re not country.”
When the judges seemed to hesitate before answering whether or not she was going to Hollywood, McGuckian started crying.
“I’m sorry, I promise y’all, if you say no, I ain’t gonna be angry, I promise,” she told the judges.
Then, they all three said yes to the young woman, telling her she needed to work on a few things, but they all truly believed in her.
“It means everything that I did it because I didn’t even think that I could,” she told the cameras after telling Ryan Seacrest that she wanted her grandmother’s chicken and dumplings.
McGuckian said that the golden ticket was the best thing that she’s ever gotten and she was really proud of herself for even auditioning.
American Idol airs on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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