American Idol is back this Sunday! Ahead of the new audition, the show released another audition early. This audition features Georgia native Samantha Ray.
Samantha Ray Has Judges in Tears Over Dedication to Her Sister
Ahead of the audition the 22 year old explained that being on American Idol is a lifelong dream of hers. Growing up she watched the show with her sister, who also loved to singer. Together, they looked up to Carrie Underwood.
Samantha Ray, 22, from Georgia. Winning the show would mean everything to her because it’s her dream.
“Impressing her [Carrie Underwood] is like the top of the line for me,” she said.
Judges Call Samantha a Storyteller
For the audition, she sang “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack. After the song was over Luke Bryan asked Samantha, “what were you thinking about when you sang that?”
“I’m thinking about my sister a lot, earlier this year, in February I lost her to a drug overdose,” she replied. “So losing her hurts a lot because she was a year younger than me, we were really close.”
She went on to explain that her sister left behind two young boys. Samantha finished her story by stating that she’s auditioning for American Idol for her sister.
The judges then voted for Samantha. Lionel Richie was the first to comment on the performance.
“From the first note, I was trying to compose myself because every once in a while we run across people who have the absolute trigger on emotions, you did it perfectly,” he said.
“We didn’t know what you were thinking about, but we knew you were thinking about something and that’s being a story teller,” Underwood said. “That pulls people in, that was really special.”
“It’s nice just to hear somebody sing a classic like that, but you did it your own way you don’t really overthink it and it felt very listenable,” Luke Bryan said.
Bryan began voting, saying yes for Samantha. Richie and Underwood agreed, sending the singer to Hollywood.
To stay caught up on this season of American Idol, be sure to tune into the next episode. The next set of American Idolauditions air on Sunday at 8PM ET on ABC.
Words by:
Corey Cesare Corey Cesare is Talent Recap's Managing Editor and featured YouTube Host. She has a love of all things pop culture and an unhealthy obsession with celebrities. Corey earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Cinema/Screen Studies from the State University of New York at Oswego in 2021. She spends her spare time shooting astro, nature, and portrait photography, and coming up with movie ideas that she hopes to make into a film someday.
