After Wé Ani’s performance of Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way” Sunday night (April 9), there was no question about her place in American Idol‘s Top 24.
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With 55 hopefuls left after the previous Duets round, it was time for the Showstoppers, the final deciding factor for would who duke it out for the American Idol title. The Showstopper performances involve a backing band as judges—veteran artists Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Katy Perry— evaluate not only the contestants’ voices but also their on-stage presence.
The 23-year-old Harlem, New York native delivered. She stunned with a showstopper of all the Showstoppers, taking on the Franklin classic with ease and confidence. The judges, all overlooking the performances from a theatre box, were visibly taken aback by the sheer power of her performance.
“We’ve had a class of outstanding singers,” Richie told her after the performance, the judges sitting each contestant down to tell them of their decisions. “Cutting it down is the hardest thing … Trying to cut a great singer, that’s impossible. You are a great singer.”
He told her that she would be going on to the Top 24 in the hopes of becoming the next American Idol.
Since her audition earlier in the season, the young hopeful has seemed to have the “it” factor. She first struck the judges when her speaking and singing voices sounded very different, the former much higher than her passionate lilt. “You are amazing,” Richie said of her audition with Demi Lovato’s “Anyone.” “This class is shaping up to be ridiculous. And I don’t want to put you into the ridiculous category, but that was ridiculous.”
We Ani has continued to wow everyone throughout her journey on the competition show, especially with her performance of an original song, titled “Good For,” during the first round of Hollywood Week.
Photo by ABC/Eric McCandless
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