‘American Idol': Cameron McGhar Sings Little Big Town, Loretta Lynn as She Tries to Get to Hollywood [Watch]
Sixteen-year-old Cameron McGhar didn't impress American Idol judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie right out of the gate with her rendition of Little Big Town's "Girl Crush," but a second country hit ... well, it got her a little closer. Still, the three stars with the tickets to Hollywood were split on if she should go or not.
McGhar's "Girl Crush" demonstrated her vocal power right away: As American Idol host Ryan Seacrest noted, he and McGhar's mother could hear her singing from behind a closed set of heavy wooden doors. However, as Bryan told the Clanton, Ala., native, "You're singing on pitch, but it's just not flowing out, and it's not natural."
"It's not comfortable," Richie added.
When McGhar offered to sing another song, the judges encouraged her to loosen up for the performance. "Just shake it out a little bit!" Bryan told her, while Perry asked for "attitude!" as McGhar belted Loretta Lynn's "You Ain't Woman Enough (to Take My Man)."
"You only ever have one chance to show what you think you can give us, and that wasn't it. We had to pull it out of you," Perry told McGhar after her second performance. "If you go forward, we wouldn't be able to do this type of thing again ..."
"... and you won't have to," the teenager offered.
Richie ultimately voted "no" to sending McGhar to Hollywood. "You have a very infectious personality ... We're pulling for you here," he told her, but added that he doesn't think she's quite ready for a bigger spotlight.
Perry, however, agreed to "roll the dice" and vote to send McGhar through, leaving the final decision up to Bryan.
"You've got a big, big, big voice ... You have, like, a sparkle in your eye ... but I don't know if it's all the way there for me," the country star mused, before siding with Perry and also voting yes.
American Idol airs on Sunday nights at 8PM ET on ABC. Sunday night's episode showed this season's third set of auditions, filmed in California in late 2020.
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