The former pageant queen earned a ticket to Hollywood with this impressive audition.
Landry Champlin, Carrie Underwood; Photos by Disney/Eric McCandless
Hailing from Colleyville, TX, Landry Champlin made her way into the American Idol audition room ready and determined to sing her heart out.
The 23-year-old informed the judges panel that in addition for her passion for music, she also works as a beauty pageant coach and has spent many years competing in the Miss America Organization. Ready to take on a new kind of competition, Champlin revealed that she would be performing a song by one of her biggest musical inspirations, Carrie Underwood.
“Carrie, I grew up singing all of your music, so yeah, I’m actually going to sing one of those songs for you today,” she shared. “I’m going to do ‘Good Girl’ for you and Carrie, I have to tell you before I sing this, I had a dream last week, y’all, that Carrie, you sang a little bit of this with me and then you told me ‘you are going to Hollywood.’ So if you want to make that come true…” she added with hope in her voice.
The first part of her dream came true instantly as Underwood sang a few of the background lyrics while Champlin confidently showed off the wide range of her vocals. She belted out the powerhouse tune without missing the beat and never let the smile fade from her face.
“Hey, good girl (hey, good girl)/ Get out while you can/ I know you think you got a good man/ Why, why you gotta be so blind?/ Won’t you open up your eyes?/ It’s just a matter of time ’til you find/ He’s no good, girl/ No good for you/ You better get to getting on your goodbye shoes and go, go, go/ Better listen to me, he’s low, low, low,” she sang.
After finishing her performance and earning a round of applause from the judges, Champlin admitted, “That was the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
As Underwood pointed out, it’s often a risk for hopeful contestants to perform a song by one of the judges before them, however in this case, it paid off.
“We always talk about how nervous we get when somebody is like, ‘I’m going to sing one of your songs.’ It’s like, please be good, but also please be you. And I feel like you definitely made it your own,” Underwood shared honestly. “I was like, oh, am I going to throw her off by just jumping in at the beginning? But you held your own.”
Lionel Richie continued, “Well, first of all, I was nervous for you once you opened your mouth. I said, oh, hallelujah. I loved your delivery. I loved your voice and I love just how you present. It was a package.”
Luke Bryan rounded out the compliments as he said, “Great start. Great Big voice. Big range. That’s a tough song to sing. You did good.”
Then, on the count of three, the judges made the second half of Landry Champlin’s dream come true as they simultaneously yelled, “You going to Hollywood.”
Champlin’s performance took place during the audition process for American Idol’s eighth season on ABC and 23rd overall. The competition continues next Sunday, March 23, airing at 8 p.m. ET on the network, with episodes available to stream on Hulu the following day.
