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(ABC/Eric McCandless) AVA AUGUST American Idol Top 24: Young but Mature, Ava August is beyond her years 15-year-old Ava August, the youngest in the season 19 competition, has previously impressed with her songwriting and unique voice that has been said to be many years beyond her age. On Monday night's American Idol Top 24 Solos and All-Star Duets Ava made a gutsy choice, first singing one of the biggest hits of the year, “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo. And she did a solid job with it. In the more powerful parts of the song, she seemed a bit out of the pocket, but the lower parts were just gorgeous. She sounded radio ready. Her tone really pops. Her solo received a standing O from Lionel Richie and Katy Perry. There is one thing I notice with Ava that she could tone down. She seems to sing a bit too close to the microphone, so it picks up more than just her voice, and she sometimes takes a bit too many breaths between notes. This is probably more of an age thing, but I don’t think it is a huge issue. Favorite duet of the night! When I first saw that Ava would be paired with Josh Groban, I thought she would be drowned out and wouldn’t fit his style, but boy was I wrong. The classic Joni Mitchell song “Both Sides Now” was a perfect song choice. One thing I noticed is Josh seemed to really listen to his singers and ask questions during his mentor sessions. This was possibly my favorite duet of the night. I said that Ava is like a 60/70s singer-songwriter before, and it really showed here. This was even better than her solo performance and was probably her best performance to date. There was something so special about Ava’s voice; she showed more layers to it here. All three judges stood this time (I’m not for sure on this – the camera panned over when it seemed as if Luke Bryan was sitting down, but I could only see Lionel and Katy standing). Ava joked that she will be getting her drivers license soon when host Ryan Seacrest asked. I usually get annoyed by age comments, but I think Lionel is right when he tells Ava that she is singing “far beyond” her age. He says that her with her drivers license she will be “terrifying” if this is what she sounds like at 15. Katy describes Ava’s old soul and said that her old soul is saying “I’m coming back this time, I’m going to do it right, ace this test of life, and become that queen”. Luke compares Ava to Judy Garland. They commend her on picking a song that fits her age and say that Ava does all things right including playing guitar and writing songs. I worry that Ava is too niche or unique for Idol, but I hope that she can continue to grow through her journey and surprise viewers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vdluSAQ-ewrI

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