Nineteen year old singer Mary Jo Young has nearly 263K followers on Tik Tok, a social media platform she only joined last year during the pandemic! Prior to singing online, the Cleveland native considered herself a shy singer, and would only sing “for herself.”
Although America’s Got Talent and The Voice expressed interest in her, Mary Jo settled on American Idol where her audition will air on Sunday (Feb 28)
“I thought I’d do ‘American Idol’ because everyone on the show sings; I don’t want to go up against someone who’s juggling fire because I don’t know how the heck that would go,” she said. “It all happened in the blink of an eye. One day I was posting covers and all of the sudden I had people reaching out from shows.”
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Mary Jo hadn’t “genuinely performed for anybody” since she yodeled in a 4th grade talent contest–not even for her mother. So, after the 19 year old singer performed “You Broke Me First” by Tate McCrae for judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, they suggest she bring mom into the audition room for a little impromptu concert. Mary Jo sang “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi while facing mom, who was clearly moved by her daughter’s voice.
Lionel believes Mary Jo will grow on the show. “You’re going to learn everything from American Idol,” he said. Katy advised her, “Never forget where you come from, no matter how far you end up going!” And Luke simply declared, “Top 10, I think.”
Watch Mary Jo Young Perform on American Idol
