“I’m Lucy Love, I’m from Holly Grove, Arkansas, I’m 28 years old and I’m… ready.”
Videos by American Songwriter
That’s how the American Idol audition began for Love on Sunday night’s (February 19) Idol premiere of season 21.
She added, “LL… not Cool J” for effect.
Love sang Marvin Gaye’s classic song, “Heard It Through The Grape Vine,” with passion, bounce, joy, and flavor. The show’s judges—country star Luke Bryan, pop star Katy Perry and R&B star Lionel Richie—enjoyed the performance.
“I heard some notes that were really some notes,” said Richie.
Richie, then, gave some constructive feedback. Love, who joked with the judges before she sang, maybe gave too much flavor to her tryout. So, after telling her story, the judges gave her another chance to prove her soul, talent, and demeanor.
“I’m from a long line of people who never had the opportunity to make something of themselves,” said Love, a mother of two. “I did not have a dad and my mom, she was kind of like in and out of our lives.”
She added, “Music was my safe haven, my refuge. Music was the thing that I did that I just knew that I could have self-esteem in. I could be fat, I could be ugly, but the one thing you cannot say is that I cannot sing.
“It took a long time for me to believe in myself,” Love continued throughout her tryout video. “And now I believe in myself. And I deserve this.”
Richie told Love to take her time, forget the “gimmicks” and just sing her a song. Meaning, she could just show her talent, without the pomp and circumstance.
That’s when Love excelled even further, singing “A Song For You” by Donny Hathaway.
With a smoky, gravely voice, Love earned her ticket to the show. But not before a few tears. Bryan said he’d written her off, but after the second chance, she was in. “This whole journey is about proving people wrong,” said Bryan. “And you just proved me wrong.”
Check out the clip of her performance below.
Photo by ABC/Eric McCandless
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