Meet American Idol contestant Laila Mach, the 15-year-old New York native whose a really big fan of Gabby Barrett and her music.
Mach auditioned with an original song that the contestant said is inspired by Barrett’s chart-topping single “I Hope” but angrier.
Before her audition in front of Idol judges, Barrett made a surprise virtual appearance to wish Mach the best of luck with her audition.
“Hi Laila, I just wanted to wish you good luck on your audition today,” Barrett told Mach. “I know you are going to do great. Do what you know how to do best and I hope to meet you sometime very soon.”
Following her stunning audition, she received praise from Idol judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.
“You had me completely fooled, I thought you were the nicest, sweetest. Let me just give you songwriting props,” Richie said.
“Yea, it was like a more deranged version of ‘I Hope’ by Gabby Barrett,” Perry added. “You’re exactly what it takes to be in this competition and can go far.”
“Great job to be able to come in here in a very stressful moment and to be confident about what you just did,” Bryan said. “That’s hard to do, It took me years to master that and I still don’t have it all the way down. Very impressive, thank you for being here.”
Watch her full audition below.
New episodes of American Idol air each Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
