‘American Idol': Platinum Ticket Winner Huntergirl and Cole Ritter Advance With Fleetwood Mac Cover [Watch]
Three contestants were eliminated on Sunday night (April 3) during the “Duets Challenge” on Season 20’s American Idol. But Huntergirl and Cole Ritter were not part of those eliminations.
The two singers proved to the judges that they had what it took to advance to the next phase of the reality sing-off competition.
Huntergirl, whose real name is Hunter Wolkonowski, got to choose her duet partner for the round since she was surprised with a coveted Platinum Ticket after performing Downtown Nashville at Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge Bar on Lower Broadway. Thinking she and Ritter’s vocals would blend seamlessly, she couldn’t imagine herself performing with anybody else.
Taking the stage for their performance, Ritter revealed the name of their duo.
“We are Backwood Mac,” he joked to judges Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry.
“We are doing ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac, but you could tell by my accent, and us being the country genre, we’re kind of a little bit redneck. So, we’re going by Backwood Mac,” Huntergirl reasoned.
Then, with Ritter on acoustic guitar and Huntergirl swaying back and forth, both singers made vocal magic, providing judges with a near flawless delivery on the tune. They even earned a few comments from the judges, including a “solid” from Richie, before closing out their performance.
“Country girl, you have an undeniable tone in your voice that just cuts through,” Perry noted. “You all did nothing wrong. You sounded great together.”
“Cole, you just put out an immediate vibe that you want to jump on board with some of that,” Bryan added.
Given their stellar performance, all three judges agreed Huntergirl and Ritter will be moving through to the Showstopper round of the competition. That, however, isn't the case for hopefuls Cole Hallman, Haley Slaton and Taylor Fagins, whose journey on the show came to an end.
Fans can keep up with American Idol Sunday and Monday nights on ABC.
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