American Idol contestant Haley Slaton is expecting her first child but she refuses to let her pregnancy stop her from chasing her musical dreams.
“Being on the show pregnant is actually not going to be an obstacle for me,” Slaton admitted ahead of her audition. “Just being a mom shouldn’t stop you from following your dreams. I just really want to do this for my son and give him a really good life. I really want to show him to never stop chasing his dreams in the future. Never give up on your dreams, mommy went and chased hers.”
Slaton, a 23-year-old Temp Agency Worker, auditioned for Idol when she was nearly six months pregnant with a baby boy.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa has been singing since she was 3 years old in church and is determined to pursue a career in music.
Backed by a pianist, Slaton auditioned with a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.”
The judges were not thoroughly impressed by her cover of the Cyrus hit and offered her some constructive criticism.
“Hmmm. Raspy, Luke what do you think?” Perry asked.
“Not perfect, it wasn’t a perfect audition,” Bryan said. “There were some amateur moments, but then there were some real moments, and I wonder if you would be able to begin to replicate those more, that’s the million-dollar question.”
“According to the last time I studied the anatomy, the baby is close to the lungs if I can remember. So holding a note may be quite difficult at certain times,” Richie added.
The judges decided to ask the expectant mother to sing a different song.
“I think there’s a lot there, but we are not sure,” Perry admitted before asking her to sing her second song choice. “Fight for it, you’re fighting for your son, your future, your voice to be heard. Fight for it.”
She then performed a cover of Adele’s “One And Only” to prove herself and her vocal abilities.
“Alright, we got you, we’re going to give you a chance, this is going to be a lot. It’s a lot, you’re going through a life change and give it that and more every single time,” Perry told her.
“For you and little smokey, absolutely yes,” Richie said with a laugh.
Slaton earned a unanimous ‘yes’ and grabbed her golden ticket to Hollywood to chase her dreams even further.
American Idol returns on Monday at 8/7c with another round of auditions.
