{"id":14792,"date":"2025-04-04T20:28:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T20:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=14792"},"modified":"2025-04-04T20:28:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T20:28:13","slug":"the-16-year-old-singer-left-judges-lionel-richie-carrie-underwood-and-luke-bryan-in-awe-with-a-powerful-rendition-of-jennifer-hudsons-and-i-am-telling-you-from-dreamgirls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=14792","title":{"rendered":"The 16-year-old singer left judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan in awe with a powerful rendition of Jennifer Hudson\u2019s \u201cAnd I Am Telling You\u201d from Dreamgirls, showcasing incredible vocal strength and emotion beyond her years."},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header clearfix\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\">American Idol 2025: Watch 16 year-old Kaleo Knight Nail a \u2018Dreamgirls\u2019 Classic<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content clearfix\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-356799\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mjsbigblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/175464_2161-scaled-e1743355668712.jpg?ezimgfmt=ng%3Awebp%2Fngcb278%2Frs%3Adevice%2Frscb279-1\" sizes=\"\" srcset=\"\" alt=\"Kaleo Knight - American Idol 2025\" width=\"1280\" height=\"855\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Disney\/Eric McCandless) KALEO KNIGHT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-american-idol-2025-watch-16-year-old-kaleo-knight-nail-a-dreamgirls-classic\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">American Idol 2025: Watch 16 year-old Kaleo Knight nail a \u2018Dreamgirls\u2019 classic<\/h2>\n<p><span id=\"ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-196\" class=\"ezoic-adpicker-ad\"><\/span>Before\u00a0<em>American Idol<\/em>\u00a02025 auditions conclude Sunday night (March 30), ABC drops another audition preview (Watch\u00a0<strong>Samantha Ray\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0emotional audition) from 16 year old\u00a0<strong>Kaleo Knight<\/strong>. In the clip below the young singer impressed judges\u00a0<strong>Lionel Richie<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Carrie Underwood<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Luke Bryan<\/strong>\u00a0with a performance of\u00a0<strong>Jennifer Hudson\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cAnd I Am Telling You\u201d from the musical\u00a0<em>Dreamgirls<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"ezoic-pub-video-placeholder-1\" class=\"ezoic-videopicker-video\"><\/span><span id=\"ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638\" data-inserter-version=\"2\"><\/span><span id=\"ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-804\" data-inserter-version=\"2\"><\/span>Kaleo, who hails from the Los Angeles area, described growing up doing hula dance and learning traditional Hawaiian \u201cmele.\u201d She speaks Japanese, which has been a \u201chuge part\u201d of her upbringing, she explained to the judges.<\/p>\n<p>Lionel was sceptical when Kaleo announced she\u2019d be covering the Broadway showstopper \u201cAnd I am Telling You.\u201d She\u2019s a little gal when it comes to stature, but it turned out that Kaleo\u2019s voice is BIG and she packed a punch belting the classic song, which many singers do not attempt to cover. She nailed all the high notes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kaleo\u2019s Dreamgirls Audition of &quot;And I Am Telling You&quot; Wins Over Judges - American Idol\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5Ic66td37pY\" width=\"350\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"350\" data-origheight=\"235\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"h-after-kaleo-nailed-and-i-am-telling-you-carrie-underwood-remarked-you-landed-the-plane-very-very-well\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">After Kaleo nailed \u201cAnd I Am Telling You\u201d Carrie Underwood remarked, \u201cYou landed the plane very very well.\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>The judges gave Kaleo a standing ovation after she finished. \u201cI have the answer to that, \u201d Lionel joked, referring to the lyrics, \u201cWe love ya!\u201d He added, \u201cThat was crazy good.\u201d Carrie remarked, \u201cYou landed the plane very very well.\u201d However, Carrie felt unsure during the first half of the performance because she couldn\u2019t tell where the song was going. \u201cI was scared for ya, I\u2019m not going to lie,\u201d Carrie admitted. \u201cYou landed it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luke said, \u201cWe have 16 year olds that haven\u2019t found themselves\u2013most of the time we tell them to come back and audition later.\u201d But, what Luke loved about Kaleo\u2019s audition was how she \u201cfought through and battled through and slayed it in the end.\u201d He added, \u201cIt\u2019s something a 16 year old should definitely be proud of. Probably the best 16 year old voice we\u2019ve heard in this competition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou went from \u2018I\u2019m scared to death\u2019 to \u2018I got this\u2019,\u201d Lionel observed. \u201cWe love competition when it\u2019s sounding like you.\u201d He advised, \u201cJust stay in your lane and blow them away.\u201d Next the judges all said yes, unanimously sending Kaleo to the Hollywood Round.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-647\" data-inserter-version=\"2\"><\/span>Watch\u00a0<em>American Idol<\/em>\u00a0on ABC Sunday March 30 at 8 pm ET\/PT, streaming next day on Hulu. Hollywood Week kicks off Monday, March 31.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>American Idol 2025: Watch 16 year-old Kaleo Knight Nail a \u2018Dreamgirls\u2019 Classic (Disney\/Eric McCandless) KALEO KNIGHT American Idol 2025: Watch 16 year-old Kaleo Knight nail a \u2018Dreamgirls\u2019&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The 16-year-old singer left judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan in awe with a powerful rendition of Jennifer Hudson\u2019s \u201cAnd I Am Telling You\u201d from Dreamgirls, showcasing 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