10 Things You Didn’t Know About Lauren Alaina: No. 10

10. She blew out a vocal cord before the American Idol finale.

Many fans never knew how close Alaina came to not being able to perform during the American Idol finals in 2011. Second runner-up Haley Reinhart was standing by eagerly because Alaina had shredded a vocal cord.

“I went on vocal rest, drank lots of tea, had medical assistance and most of all, prayed about it,” she explains. Us Magazine reports that nerves were the reason for the injury, but judging by how cool she looked once onstage, we hardly believe it.