The Top 7 will release original songs on Friday May 13, and in the meantime, the singers are dropping previews to their new tunes. Check out previews from Leah Marlene, Nicolina Bozzo and HunterGirl below. For previews from Noah Thompson and Fritz Hager, who tested positive for COVID last week and had to find creative ways to perform. Check out this link!
American Idol: Fritz Hager, Noah Thompson Tease Singles, Talk COVID
All five singers will perform their new songs on American Idol Sunday May 14 on ABC at 8 pm ET/5 pm ET. Season 4 winner and country star Carrie Underwood will mentor the Top 5 at Resorts World in Las Vegas where she is kicking off another leg of her residency.
Eliminated contestants Christian Guardino and Jay Copeland also released new songs.
Leah Marlene self-penned song “Flowers” addresses depression
“After 2 years of some pretty crippling depression and anxiety, in 2021 I slowly but surely found my way back to myself,” Leah Marlene wrote on Instagram. “A few months ago I wrote a song reflecting on the wild journey that life has taken me on the past few years.” She continued, “More than anything, it’s an encouragement to any past self that no matter how far goine, you may feel there’s always a way out.”
Leah told Billboard magazine: “I wrote my song right after Hollywood Week, when we found out we were in the top 24 and I was just reflecting on how on earth did I come to this moment? A year ago, I was in rock-bottom territory and the fact that I was going to be on American Idol and was actually moving forward was just insane to me. This song came about in that reflection and it’s an encouragement that no matter how far gone you may feel, there’s always a way out and even the pavement gives way to the flowers and that’s what the song is about. It’s called ‘Flowers.’ I’m so excited to share it with everybody.”
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Nicolina Bozzo’s “Glitter” about processing grief
“ahhhh i couldn’t wait to show y’all a sneak peak of what’s coming on friday!!” Nicolina wrote on Instagram. “if you’re excited please share on ur stories and tag me (so i can repost)”
“I did not write my song,” Nicolina told Billboard. “I chose to remake a song called ‘Glitter’ by Patrick Droney. It’s about how grief is something that we can deal with, but we can never truly escape. And I feel like everyone processes grief in different ways and grief means so many different things and the lyrics of that song resonated with me so heavily that I thought it would be a cool idea to take a song that people already love and reinvent it and give it a little Nicolina flavor.”
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HunterGirl drops the deeply personal “Redbird”
HunterGirl calls her self-penned song “Redbird” on of the most “personal” songs she’s ever written. She added in another post, “When I was a little girl my family always told me “when you see a red bird, it is a sign from Heaven that a family member is looking after you. Cardinals have been a big sign in my life and really important to my family. Red Bird is a song that I wrote from my heart with Matt and Austin. I cried in the writing room with this song. I want people to know that we are never alone and the ones we love are always watching over us. Sometimes you just need a red bird. Thank you so much to Jimmy for bringing this song to life.”
“It was literally the night the first episode of this season of American Idol was on and I was scared to death going down the driveway of my parents’ house for the watch party,” HunterGirl told Billboard. “I was thinking, ‘Lord, I know everything’s going to be okay but could you just let me know?’ And a big thing in my family is the saying that whenever you see a red bird, it’s a member of your family from heaven coming to visit you.
“After I talked to God and asked Him if everything was going be okay, a red bird flew in front of my car and another flew all the way home and I broke down. A few days later, I went back to Nashville and wrote this song ‘Red Bird’ with my friends Matt McKinney and Austin Goodloe. The song means a lot to me and it’s for everybody that I’ve lost in my family and for anybody that needs a little help.”
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