A top 10 contender? Mississippi teen wows ‘American Idol’ judges with Garth Brooks song
Kayleigh Clark of Sumrall is going to Hollywood.
“I hit the jackpot! I got the golden ticket and I’m heading to Hollywood!” the 17-year-old from Sumrall posted on Facebook after her audition aired Sunday on American Idol.
She was one of seven contestants on Sunday’s show to score a golden ticket and continue on in the competition in Hollywood.
Dressed in jeans and a hot pink jacket with sparkle fringes, Clark started her audition country style with “The Dance” by Garth Brooks.
Judge Katy Perry asked Clark for another song and encouraged her to sing from her gut on “I Surrender” by Hillsong Worship.
Judge Lionel Richie encouraged Clark to bring more power to her singing. “You got to wake the chickens up,” he said, referring to her work on her family’s chicken farm in Sumrall.
Judge Luke Bryan was wowed by her performance and said he believes the teen could be a top 10 contender.
“If she doesn’t find that next gear she ain’t,” said Perry, who voted that Clark was not yet ready for the competition.
Bryan and Richie voted “yes” for Clark, which was enough to send her to Hollywood.
Mississippi winners
With yet another win, it’s been a good run for Mississippi contestants this year on American Idol and The Voice.
Earlier this month, former Miss Mississippi Holly Brand of Meridian chose to sing “Mississippi Girl” by another Mississippi artist Faith Hill. The song and her performance moved her on in competition on The Voice.
In February, Colin Stough and Zachariah Smith, both from Amory, collected their golden tickets for their performances on American Idol.
Amory is in northwest Mississippi, is a town of just 6,500 residents. Sumrall, where Clark lives, has a population of only 1,850 people and is just northwest of Hattiesburg.
Who is Kayleigh Clark?
American Idol was the biggest singing performance to date for Clark, who said her first solo performance came when she was just 4 and sang, “Happy Birthday, Jesus,” at her church.
“From the time my feet would hit the floor in the morning to the time I’d go to bed I was always tapping, humming, singing, whistling, anything musical,” she said in her video profile.
The teen is a home schooled senior and is used to being on stage and in the spotlight while competing in pageants and talent shows. She’s performed the National Anthem at Biloxi Shuckers and Mississippi Braves baseball games.
Clark modeled at Fashion Week in New York in 2019, but lately has focused on her singing and is recording an album of her favorite country songs.
Her website says she’s also working on KC Wear — her own brand of apparel.
Her mother and a friend signed her up to audition on American Idol, she said in an interview with the Hattiesburg American, and told her she was going to New Orleans for a shot at getting on the show.
Since her audition, Clark is mostly working in her family’s chicken house’s and deer-processing business.
“Every once in awhile I’ll go shopping with my friends, but most of the time I spend my time at the chicken houses,” she said.
