Ethan Senger, a 24-year-old musician, captivated the American Idol judges with his stellar Keith Urban cover and the breathtaking harmonies he shared with his mother. Hailing from Woodstock, Georgia, Ethan Senger—pronounced “singer”—introduced himself, instantly charming the Idol judges with his name.
Luke Bryan commented, “That’s a good last name,” while Carrie Underwood playfully added, “You have no choice but to be here.”
Senger offered a little bit of his backstory, explaining, “So I sing all over the place, playing gigs. I’m a musician for a living. My dad was a guitar player and my mom is a singer. So yeah, fell in love with it from the get-go and me and my mom actually sang together from time to time.”
Auditioned With Impressive Keith Urban Cover
Donning an army green crew neck and jeans, Senger strummed his acoustic guitar as he belted out the lyrics to the massive country hit, which was co-written by Urban and appear on Urban’s 2002 album, Golden Road.
The contestant went on to showcase his vocals with “Somebody Like You.” Throughout his performance of the Urban track, Bryan provided constructive feedback, offering suggestions like “open your mouth a little bit” to improve pronunciation and “slow it down so we can really hear you sing this thing.”
Bryan’s suggestions improved his performance so much that he applauded Ethan Senger’s performance and apologize for “yelling a little bit” at him during his audition.
“I’m sorry, I started yelling a little bit at you… But listen, dude, you’ve got cool, cool things going on,” Bryan said. Lionel Richie added, “you have some true PO-tential.”
Ethan Senger And His Mom Joined Forces For A Heartwarming Duet On Idol
After his Urban cover, Luke Bryan invited him to bring his mother into the audition room to perform alongside him. “Can we hear your mother?” Bryan asked, to which Carrie Underwood added, “Thank you for asking him to do more. I was like there was nothing wrong. Can do the worst. I needed more right.”
His mom entered the audition room and appeared nervous, but she didn’t let her nerves get the best of her. Together, Ethan Senger and his mom offered an impressive cover of Glen Hansford and Marketa Irglova’s “Falling Slowly.” The mother/son pair traded verses and effortlessly harmonized on the track’s chorus, bringing Carrie Underwood to tears.
“You sound so good. And on a personal note, as a mom with boys, the way you look at him is so sweet. You sound awesome together. Oh my gosh, I was just like ‘hold it together,’ but so sweet. You’re so proud, I love it. It’s a yes from me,” Underwood gushed as tears streamed down her cheek.
“Georgia Boy” Advances To Hollywood
“It’s a yes from me Georgia boy, congratulations,” Bryan added. Lionel Richie also agreed and voted ‘yes.’
After receiving his golden ticket to advance to Hollywood, Ethan’s mom told Idol producers, “I’m so proud of you. This was a very special moment for us because we’ve been doing this since Ethan was very young, and it was very emotional for me, and I’m just so proud.”
American Idol airs every Sunday and Monday at 8/7c on ABC.
