Original Songs The Judges Loved | American Idol 2025

Name: Original Songs The Judges Loved | American Idol 2025
Uploaded: 2025-09-17T23:06:28.061Z
Duration: 51 min 52 s
Channel: American Idol
Description: UNITED STATES These original songs blew the judges away! In American Idol 2025, a few brave contestants stepped up to perform their own original music — and the results were unforgettable. From emotional ballads to powerful anthems, these are the original songs that had the judges raving.

American Idol

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12 Video Views·Sep 17, 2025

UNITED STATES
🎶 These original songs blew the judges away! In American Idol 2025, a few brave contestants stepped up to perform their own original music — and the results were unforgettable. From emotional ballads to powerful anthems, these are the original songs that had the judges raving.

Well, who are you? I'm Bailey Littrell. I'm 21 years old, and I'm from Atlanta, Georgia. There's something about you that looks familiar. My dad is Brian Littrell from the Baxter voice. This is the new generation of Baxter. And you look like your dad. You must forgive me. I didn't have your dad's posters in my room. I believe I get my voice from dad, and hopefully I can do him justice today. I guess you could say music runs in our family. Dance moves-wise, that's the one thing genetically that did not pass down. Following in my dad's footsteps is scary, because his career to me is one of the most extraordinary in music history. No one can ever compare. I remember being eight or nine years old, and they sold out this huge arena, and I got to open up for them. I just had my two little songs, and I came off stage. And when the guys went on, and the screams, and the lights went down, and I was just mesmerized. And I thought, oh my gosh. Like, what is this? When you're a kid, you're not afraid. But when you start to get a little bit older, especially a teenager, you kind of get timid. At least I was. Obviously, growing up in the industry, a lot of people would look at that as, like, such a perk. But it's not easy. Hopefully, I can go make y'all proud. I've always told everybody that he's 10 times more talented than I ever was. I've got an original song for you guys today. This one's a little bit emotional. This song is about me personally wanting to give up and not giving up yet. Trust me, I wish I wanted to do something completely different. But if I'm not doing music, there's no way I can really exist. The devil's on my shoulder as I try to brush him by. I know what he wants from me and what I want for my own life. I've been caged in and broken from the games that he likes to play. If I hold on to my faith, we'll get me through the golden gates. I don't know what to do anymore. I seem to be all alone in this war, always by myself, with no one by my side. What to do, what to do with my life? It seems I have no more tears left to cry. As the rain takes my time, I'm waiting on myself to die. All right. You're really good. Thank you. Like, you're really good. Thank you so much. I love the song. And that's a risk, too, when people come in, like, singing their own songs. That was great. And you went there emotionally. And I think you could go very, very far in this competition. Thank you so much. It means the world. We're super proud. He's obviously grown up in the business. And, you know, I think he's cut out for it. Does your dad ever sing with you? He does. You think he'd sing with you? You never know. I could see. I have an audition. No way! What? Come on! That's a gift! What's going on, guys? You mind doing a little bit of that chorus with him? Let's do it. Yeah. I don't know what to do anymore. I seem to be all alone in this world. Always by myself, when no one by my side. Ah, good. What to do, what to do with my life? It seems I have no more tears left to cry. Misery takes my time. I'm waiting on myself to die. That's it! I think that's, like, the second time I've ever done that. So I hope it sounded all right. This was not a part of the audition. No. It's like, for your superstar singer dad to come in here, I feel like for anybody else, it would make you look bad. But it didn't. Like, you were right there with him. You didn't pale. You didn't shy away. Like, you were like, this is my moment. I'm very happy for you and very proud of your son. He's got his own lane. And I think you can go a long way. Very happy for you. I mean, I'm a dad of boys. And all you want your boys to do is blaze their own trail. And when they want to do the steps and the work, I'm there to help them. But it's up for them to want to go do it. And, you know, you've obviously took the time to really go hone your skills and your craft. I mean, the second your voice, I hadn't seen Keri. Keri went, ah! She looked right at me. She was like, so that's good, man. Congrats, and let's vote it up. Yes. If there was a better word for yes, I would use that better word. But yes. Yes. I'm going to cry. I'm crying. Thank you. This song, I mean, it's a tearjerker for sure. All right, let's hit it. I had a pet lizard named George. He was cool, but he made me really bored. So I gave him to my mom, and she loves him very much, because animals are better than people. They try to cancel me, cancel me, bother me, bother me, stop bothering me. I don't even like my job. Karens, shut the f*** up. Vegans, shut the f*** up. Babies, shut the f*** up. Everyone needs to shut the f*** up. Laundry, shut the f*** up. War, shut the f*** up. Dinosaurs, shut the f*** up. Everyone needs to shut the f*** up. Traffic, shut the f*** up. People, shut the f*** up. Groceries, shut the f*** up. Everyone needs to shut the f*** up. That's it. How do you feel, Lionel? I'm mortified. My wife will play me that song every evening. Yeah, you should have put Luke, shut the f*** up. Oh, I like that. All right, Kari. You clearly got a thing going. You're interesting, you know, obviously in the context of American Idol. I don't know where you would fit in here. Neither do I. I'm literally Canadian, so. It's a no for American Idol. I just want to hear it from Luke. I'm a no. It's a no for me. Thank you. Thank you, love. Have a good one, guys. All right. Thank you, Sophie. She does sing. I'm going to do an original song called Need It, and I hope you guys enjoy it. Where do I go? Where do my people go? It's not that bad when you're honest. I feel the breakdown. Let me feel the breakdown right there where you are. But you don't need it. You don't need it anymore. Because when it's raining, if it's pouring, it'll be there in the morning. But you don't need it. You don't need it anymore. You don't. You don't need, no, no, you don't need, no. You don't need it. You don't need it anymore. Thank you. Appreciate it. All righty. Thank you. You definitely, you got a thing going. When you first started singing, I was like, oh, he's kind of got this like Bob Dylan kind of vibe, this little sprinkles in his voice. But then you've got this kind of gruff thing when you're really pushing. I'm making sense of you right now, trying to figure out what kind of artist you'd be and where you might fit in in this competition. It all boils down to song selection. If you get the right song selections all the way through this, you will have your own identity to this thing. Just be yourself in your vocals. But I think you've got something to work with, man. Thank you. I appreciate that, Lionel. Yeah, I mean, certainly, you've got a real cool aura and vibe and spirit. I appreciate that. I still think it needs some work, a little bit of polishing up and cleaning up. And I think for American Idol, it might be a little bit of a stretch to carry you through all the rounds of this competition. But let's vote it up. Lionel, what's your vote? I just want to remind him, win or lose, a lot of people saw you. I'd like to give you that opportunity to be seen again. It's a yes for me. I am, I'm a no. Thank you, Mr. Luke. So my worry is that you're going to get to Hollywood and just be thrown in there with all of these other people who are like, I don't know, maybe a little more mainstream. And it's going to be like, oh, what am I doing here? I'm trying to think. I need a minute. You need a minute? I need a minute. I'm terrified. He's just wanted this for so long. And he's worked so hard. I have a feeling he'll get it. But it's just, I'm just, I just want it for him so bad, so bad. OK. I feel blessed to be here. Tell us who you are, where you're from, your age. My name is LaShawn. I'm 25 years old. And I'm from Miami, Florida. With this look, I just want to hear about you growing up, your childhood, the whole thing. Just tell us the story. So growing up, I was raised in a household of on and off 15 to 20 people. My mother had three biological kids and adopted nine of my cousins and housed some of her sisters and brothers, which is my aunt and uncles from time to time. I was chaos sometimes, because you can only imagine. 15 to 20, like. But it's great. It's my family. I love them. When I think about my mom, I honestly call her a superwoman. I'm bubbling over with pride. You've always been the person to do things your way. I love that about you. My mom was the matriarch. She made sure there was food on the table, that we stayed positive when things weren't going so good. Every time things would get hard and tough for me, I would always, with my siblings and my cousins, we would always go in the living room. And we would just put on Motown, Temptations. It was fulfilling for me. One day, I just woke up and was just like, I feel like I was put here to do music. And then I was just like, I'm just going to follow my heart. And this is where it led me, so. First of all, your enthusiasm is just infectious. I'm about to hyperventilate listening to you. You! I'm about to hyperventilate being in front of you! All right, so what are you going to do for us? I'm going to do an original song called Woman, and it's inspired by my mother. All right, let's hear it. Oh yeah, oh yeah, whoa, listen. I'm the type to get up. I'm a woman. Build you up and never down. I'm a woman. And she call me divine. I'm a woman. You know I got to rock the crown now. I'm a woman. Listen, respect your mama. You came up out her phone. She been working all night long. Gotta keep the cool now. Hey, purpose, power, preservation. Say you want peace? Well, I am the sensation. I could give birth to a new generation. Come back and tell it to the nation. Listen, you say you want to win? Well, she's a winner. All eyes and pride to the side. She can help you. She's a gift. You're blessed. Build your mental stronger than the muscles in your chest. Intuition, God gave her. Deep in. I'm going to go ahead and stand up for that. Y'all standing up, that's crazy. Wait, wait, you are so on fire. Trust me, you put the heat out here. That was very special. And you wrote that. That came out of my soul. When she comes out, whatever she says, it's get it cuz, get it, get it cuz, get it. Ride, ride, ride, ride, OK? You got it, you got it. I mean, honestly, I had like flashes of sitting at like an award show in the audience, everybody standing up, like dancing. I wrote artist down in big letters and underlined it a bunch. Thank you so much. Luke, Luke, Luke, Luke, put me on this, put me on this. You are tremendous. Luke, no, Luke. Listen, why, you know why? Why, Luke? You are up here to sing your way into a new life for you and your family. You can feel the hunger. You can see your determination. You can see that you're not going to let any opportunity pass you by. It's truly inspiring. That's what makes people become stars. Thank you. Listen, what you just did was you just carved out a lane all by yourself. I'm telling you, there's nothing like you out here. If you got our attention, the world is waiting on you. I just cannot wait to vote because I want to get this party started. Me too. Gary, what do you think? Not only is it a yes for me, but I feel like you could be like top 12. Like, I mean, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you so much. Luke, what do you think? Yes. Yes! It's a yes for me. Yes! And more importantly, you're going to Hollywood. Thank you! All right, whoa. What judge? I'm feeling excited. I'm feeling grateful. I'm feeling blessed. I'm feeling loved. That's a star right there, y'all. Yeah! Let's go. Guys, guys, from the top with the ride ride, OK? OK. Get it, coach, get it. Ride! What's your name? My name is Will Carter. Will Carter, where are you from? I'm from St. John's, Newfoundland, which is Wow, really? What's going on here? Well, you know, chasing a dream. I'm loving this. What do you do for a living? I'm a hockey coach. Ah, all right. Yeah. OK. I know a thing or two about hockey. I know Mike Fisher. I have his hockey card, so. I grew up with a lot of hockey culture. I've been playing hockey since I was three years old. Now I'm a hockey coach. Let's go, let's go. Come around, heel up your skates. All the way up. The kids I coach know I sing. What songs are you singing? I'm going to sing some songs that I wrote. What brings you from being a hockey coach to us here at American Idol? Music to me is a way of expressing myself when nobody else is around. I can make a song based on how I'm feeling. It's always good to talk to somebody about it, but it's also good to talk to your guitar. What are you going to be singing for us today? Today I'm going to be singing an original. It's called Dreams. I went through a little rough patch in my life. My mom passed away from breast cancer, so it's just about what was going through my mind. My mom was a huge fan of the show actually, and she told me that I should definitely do something with my music, but I don't think she would have dreamt of a day like today. She's looking down. She's smiling at you, buddy. Thanks, Dad. I'm proud of you. I do wish my mom was here with me today. She is here, so it's good. As much as he deserves this, she's probably playing a role in a small way, so it means a lot. Let's hear it. No matter what happens, I'm just really proud. I'm afraid to chase my dreams And I don't know why It might sound kind of stupid But I'm trapped inside my mind And I'm scared I won't find The meaning to this life No, I I don't want to wake up In 20 years hating my life I I know time is precious And with every second that goes by All this life has given to me Is hurt and heartbreak I know I'll see the brighter side When I fight through this pain After the storm I will see the sunrise Maybe I can chase my dreams They're on the horizon And I'm afraid to chase my dreams With all these demons chasing me I try to run but I'm not that fast So I'm afraid to chase my dreams I'm afraid to chase my dreams Wow. That's a really good song. Thank you. There's definitely something about your voice. Every note wasn't perfect, but that was so clear and concise and beautiful and metaphorical but relatable. You're talking to a lot of people there. Thank you. That means a lot. You're a storyteller. Thank you. And you told your story very well. Thank you. I liked it very much. I mean, I thought it was incredible. And I was locked in to everything you did. Don't yell your voice out coaching hockey, please. Don't yell across the ice screaming at refs. Do you call them refs? Yeah. Are they refs or... Zebras. Whatever. Love your voice. And your mama's proud of you. Thanks, Luke. It's a yes from me. It is a yes from me. It's a yes from me. Thanks, Lionel. You're going to Hollywood. Wow. How far is that flight? Oh, it's too long. Hi there. Hi. How are you? I'm sweaty but great. It's how I live my life. Yeah. Well, what is your name? I'm Nina Daig. Where are you from? Beaver Dam, Virginia. Wow. That's cool. Love that. There's like three churches and a gas station. And y'all are going to be the first people that I'm singing in front of. So you don't sing anywhere at home? No. I write songs. It's just what I do. And they're secret. And then all this happened, so. What will you be singing for us today? I'm going to sing a song I wrote for slash about my brother called Average Joe. His name is Joey. I've never written a song about my siblings. My brother Joey is three and a half years older than me. Growing up, people would ask if we were twins because we both just had the same level of chaos going on. Who are you going to make friends with today? Him. Yeah. Mentally, he's about three or four. He was born not breathing, and there's lack of oxygen and caused brain damage. He's really taught me more than any other experience in my life to trust in myself. Since I was little, I always loved singing. Standing on the bed with the CD player going, I just have a lot of insecurities and started telling myself that it's not good enough and no one wants to hear it. So it's not that I didn't want to be a musician, but it's just never something I thought possible. But growing up, I watched Joey his whole life. He doesn't care what people think. He's just happy that he's him, and he accepts himself fully. I think I'm still learning from him in a lot of ways. I got this? Here. Love you. You do? I love you too. I mean, he's the reason I'm here. Hiccups from belly laughing again He's not my brother, he's my best friend Dollar store guitars playing for grandma VCR outlaws, we'd watch them all night long Well, I didn't know you were different And it didn't make no difference And the laughs or the cries or the tears from my eyes I'm done asking why, cause I've seen the light God made me for you to help you get through And you for me to set my heart free You're anything but the average joke Some people don't get it Sometimes we get lost But if you taught me one thing They're just learning how to love Thank you. You did well. Thank you. Great job. Thank you. Loved so many things about your voice. Thank you. To write from that place, it's how you formulate the beginnings of being a crazy good songwriter. And you've got the voice and you've got the tone, it's just yet to really put all the puzzle pieces together yet, in my opinion. It was one word that kept flashing. Experience. Yeah. And what I'm trying to decide now is, is it the time to push you through or is it time to let you hold for a minute and see if there might be something you can work on to come back to us. Sometimes by rushing through, you might do more harm than good. You know, so that's my dilemma right now. Yeah, I think it's very brave of you to come and share not only your voice with us but your song. Especially if you're not really used to doing that. Was every note perfect? No. But we felt your heart. I feel like you're going to have to work on that confidence a lot. You've got to quiet all the voices in your head saying that you can't and be like, I know better and I can and I'm going to and lay it all out there every single time. And I believe you can. So I'm going to say yes. Luke? I mean, I think singing is the right thing for you to be doing. I mean, there was a couple of missed notes but, um, I'm going to roll the dice on you. It's a yes from me. As Kerry said, confidence behind that sound will be amazing. It's a yes from me. Thank you so much. You're going to Hollywood. Oh my God. Thank you. Congratulations. You got to come get this. Wow. Wait. This looks like the rest of the tribe. Come on in. Ah, we get to meet him. Hi. We've heard about you. Yeah. How are you? How are you, Joe? Good. Hey, Brian. What's up, buddy? How you doing? Hi, Joe. Do you like this? Yeah. You want one? Hey, Joe. Yeah. You're going to Hollywood. Yeah. You feeling nervous? Very nervous, yes. They're just really proud of you. Thank you. I'm Freddie McClendon. I'm 19 years old, and I'm from Greenwood, South Carolina. One of my favorite memories, I was around 15 years old, and my dad took me to Nashville for the first time. Seeing Music City, and seeing Broadway, and, you know, he told me, he said, you know, Freddie, that's going to be you one day. You know, you're going to be that. I can't even believe we're here. I can't either. It's happening today. This is crazy. So what do you think the judges are going to think of your song? I think they're going to like it. I mean, I hope so. You think it's a good, it's a good thing? Thanks, Mom. That's important to you. It is. Okay, here we go. Last one. I can't wait to meet the judges. It's going to be amazing. Woo! Yes. It's going to be great. I don't know why I did that, but woo. Hey, man. How are y'all doing? What's going on? How are you? So good to see y'all. Tell us who you are, where you're from. Yes, sir. I'm Freddie McClendon. I'm from Greenwood, South Carolina, but I go to school just down the road at Belmont University. Sweet. Yes, sir. One of the Belmont boys. Yes, sir. Tell us about your story, your life. Yes, sir. So I've been writing music since I was about a freshman in high school, but I really started doing it seriously about a year ago when my dad passed away. Wow. That's very, that's a judo throw from happy-go-lucky to tragedy. Yes, sir. Yeah. My dad was killed about a year ago in May 2023, and, you know, it became a national and statewide news story and, you know, just a lot of things. Everyone was kind of focusing on his death, and I wanted to tell the story of his life. May 7th, 2023, my mom woke me up and woke my sister, Blair, up and told us our dad had been killed. And we found out later that someone killed him. My dad and I had a great relationship. He was an absolutely wonderful person. He would do anything for anybody. We used to, we used to just talk about kind of everything, you know, and he really understood me. Freddie lost his best friend. How do you get those feelings out? And he turned to writing songs. I miss him every day. And, you know, while you're already dealing with his death, you got to deal with all of these people talking about the person that he was when they didn't know him like we did. He was something so much bigger than just the true crime story of the week. You know, he was our dad and he meant the world to us. I love the fact that you're coming here and making it a positive statement that your daddy lived. Yes, sir. What are you going to do for us? This is an original song I wrote about my dad and it tells the story of my dad's life. Very good. Hope you all enjoy. Thank you. Very good, man. Mother's child Born a while away the hour Born to wear around her smile The way that carried him Father's child Loved his family with a pride He could laugh and he could cry The way his daddy did And I know that he would be right by my side So I hope that you love him I hope that you loved him I hope that you loved him Like his daughters did Never got to see him one last time We never got to tell him goodbye We never got the chance to even try to warn him that you had lost your mind You never loved him Like we did Thank you. Anita, sit. Thank you, Carrie. All right. Let me cover it. Let me get it. Yeah, you got it. OK. Thank you for for bringing that and sharing your heart. And it's so brave of you to decide that you want to choose the narrative. Thank you. That you want to remember him. Him. Not what happened but him. And you must have just an incredibly supportive family. Best in the world. And you guys lean on each other. We're proud of you. And this is a huge deal for him and for us, too. It was a good song. And you could just feel your heart behind it. Apart from that, your voice, there's something super cool and throwback about it. Thank you so much. You've got like a really honest approach at this thing. It's like our little modern-day Paul Simon or something, you know? You were able to translate that emotion, that feeling, to the point where you move people. And that's what you're in this business to do. Your family outside the door? They're outside. Can they come say hi? Yeah, we want to bring your family in on this one. Oh, my gosh. Come on in. OK. There's Freddy with a big smile on his face. All right, you guys. Boy, this is your family? This is it. Holy moly, man. What's up? I can't believe it. All right, so Freddy played us a song that was a touching story. And the love of dad was just amazing. Is this your sister over here? This is my sister. She's about to have a nervous breakdown. We better get to it as soon as possible. All right. Luke, what do you think? Yes. Thank you, Luke. It is a yes for me. It's a yes for me. Thank you so much. Don't knock your mama out. Don't knock your mother out. I'm so sorry, mom. Oh, no. You're going to Hollywood. Oh, my gosh. My dad. Come on. Thank you so much. I'm so proud that I was able to tell my dad's story and it meant the world that it resonated with Carrie Underwood. And that was incredible. And I'm beyond blessed. Holy guacamole. What are we doing, y'all? She's bringing the energy. Hey, my name's the same name as your wife. Wow. Hey, could you tell the audience what that name is? My name's Caroline Woodfield. Caroline Woodfield. So I have this song and y'all got to listen up. This song's called Diner with a T. Diner with a T? Diner with a T. T means gossip. My daddy didn't know that. Do we have subtitles with you? It's about a diner about these old ladies talking crap about everybody in my hometown. And I just put it in a song because my mom... Not those old, sweet old ladies. Hey, but they kind of deserve it. You should hear what they've been saying. Oh, man. You're about to find out. All right. Let's go. I want to hear it. Y'all listen up. Y'all ready? Ready. Max and Jessie, they got messy. She went off, had sex with his bestie. I heard she's got an STD. Oh, no. Melinda and Glinda, they're something. They're the ones spreading all the tea. That's okay, hey, because they're 80. Oh, no. I'll be telling my mama all the tea because gossiping, well, it ain't for me. So please, Jesus, hey, don't come for me. Please, Jesus, hey, don't come for me. That's good. All right. I don't know if I've ever heard STD in a song before. I got you. You can weave that one into one. What a town you live in. Caroline. Yes. That was entertaining. Uh-huh. There's going to be a no for me this time. Okay. You certainly have an infectious personality, but it's a no for me. Okay. Yeah, it's a no for me, baby. Thank you. Thank you, Caroline. Thank you so much for being here. You too. Somebody's obviously reading the dumpster mail in the urologist's office. My name is Drew Wren. I am so excited. Well, where are you from, Drew? I am from Chino Valley, Arizona, and I moved to Nashville to pursue my dream of music. Carrie, you were my first concert ever. And I actually brought my old journal. I wrote, I went to a Carrie Underwood concert. When we drove home, my mom said, see, that could be you up there. And it was that first moment in my life thinking that might be me. I even have a little confetti, by the way, from the concert. You've inspired my writing so much. I would really love to sing an original for you guys. Well, let's hear you. Okay. Things go wrong. We make mistakes. Sometimes we can't survive this way. When I just can't breathe any longer, not on my own. I wish they told me I could walk on water Cause I'm drowning in my little night I wish they told me I could walk through fire Cause I'm burning through all that I've got And I'm trying not to give up I've lost more times than I've ever won And when they say I'm not enough I've come too far to say that I'm done I wish they told me I could walk on water I wish somebody told me I wish they'd let me know I would've faced the damage but I was too hurt to know I wish they told me I could walk through fire Cause I'm burning through all that I've got Nice. Thank you. She has, like, the best whisper singing I've ever heard. It's like a projecting whisper. It is. We can hear you. I loved it. I mean, that's an original. That's an original. And, you know, there were great melodies through that thing. That was one of my favorites of the day. Yes. Wow. Boom. You just opened your mouth and told us who you were. That was an incredible song and I love your delivery of it. Thank you so much. I won't get too excited. Okay. I'm not trying to get you too excited but you should be getting a little excited about it right now. I mean, Carrie might just kind of send you off into the ozone but... Don't do that to me now. And here comes Carrie and the Kill It. No, I'm kidding. You're very believable. I mean, it is a gamble when somebody walks in with their own song. It could be like, oh my gosh, I couldn't hear their voice because I'm paying attention to how bad the song is. And how not great it is. But that wasn't the case here. I feel like it was a gamble that paid off. Wow. Okay. Shall we vote? Yes. She's like, yes. Did you just vote on yourself? She gave herself a yes? Are you telling us what to do? Yes. I like her. This could be the first in the history of American Idol where the contestant votes first. And your vote is... Yes. And Luke... Yes. And Kari... Yes. And Lionel... Yes. Now get excited. You can tell yourself where you're going. I'm going to Hollywood. Yes. God bless Amity. Thank you. I'm Brian Littrell. I'm 22 years old and I'm from Atlanta, Georgia. Did you just hear what he said? My dad is Brian Littrell from the Backstreet Boys. Did your dad give you any advice? He did. He said, just be you. When your family's in the music business, it opens a lot of doors. But it also creates a lot of animosity. So my big thing here is I'm here to make this on my own. This is called Hey Jesus. This is an original. I wrote this song when I was going through a pretty tough time in my life. Lost somebody I'd loved. My grandma was my best friend. With my dad being away on tour, she would always step in. She understood me like how many people do. My grandma passed away three years ago almost. I thought she was going to be around for moments like this. I never expected to lose her. So when I did, I questioned everything. And I'd pushed away faith. Thought I would not find it again. This song kind of helped me find it. Hey Jesus I broke my wings again. Could you help me up one last time old friend? Oh, cause I surrender everything to you. Oh, I've tried to find all my battles without you by my side. In the dark depths of the night is where I'd be without your beautiful light. Oh, you gave me wings to fly. Hey Jesus I broke my wings again. Could you help me up one last time old friend? Oh, cause I surrender everything to you. Thank you. Bailey, you're so good. Your heart and your genuineness just coming through. You're so good. Thank you so much. People whisper their theories but I know what happened that day. You called my name until it's no good for me now. Oh, it's going on around me but I'm still there where you tore me and I scattered onto so many pieces of you. You took the good and left me loser. And now we danced all night forgetting how lonely we must have been. You keep the good I'll keep the use. And you wrote that at the ripe old age of 14. Yeah. Gary, what do you think? You showed us a lot in your voice and you can go from being small and focused to like soaring. And I'm impressed at the song as well. I feel like you've got a lot of artistry in there. Thank you. It's about a breakup. Not only the breakup part but the process after trying to kind of figure out who you are without that person and just... Yeah, it was, you know, the song certainly did sound like a 14-year-old kind of level of song to me but yeah, gosh, I don't think she's quite ready. Could I play one that's higher in my verses? I'm just trying to see if Carrie wants to fight for you or not. It's a no for me. Oh, really? Why are you doing this? No, no. I mean, my thing is there's a Taylor Swift-esque quality that she has One bazillion percent. that it's like she doesn't have these like just giant vibrato like belty voice but there's something in there if she did that at 14 like she must have a lot of other things in her arsenal that she could bring to the table. So your vote here is? I would roll the dice because we do have those people that are like coming in here like guns blazing with attitude like owning the stage sucking us in like that's that's the the problem Yes. but I feel like there's something about her. So your vote is? Of course yes. Yes! Okay. She got a yes. Well, all right. Congratulations, you. Huh? You won me over and confirmed me. Huh? It's a yes. I will not be an attorney anytime soon. No, but I Well, what do you say? You didn't give us your vote. I said no, but I totally agree with you. Oh, you did say no. I talked so long I forgot what your answer was. And now the moment of truth. You're going to Hollywood. Oh my God. After all of that here she is with a golden ticket. I got it. Getting three yeses was one of the best days of my life, hands down. After that audition, I was about to leave for Hollywood and the Davis family, they gave me this necklace and to wear and just to keep because they knew I got nervous a little bit before my last audition. It's a St. Christopher with Carter's ashes in it. Wow. So I get to carry Carter wherever I go this whole entire show. That's so special. I will be singing another original song for this round and it's called Foolish Pride written by 15-year-old Nate. Foolish Pride is about self-reflection and realizing sometimes when you're the problem in a relationship or friendship or anything. I wrote it when I was going through a hard time in a relationship. I think the judges are going to see another side of my storytelling and are going to like it, I hope. Don't go wasting any breath on me I ain't what they say I am And I've been around way too long I tried to be a different kind of man Don't go wasting any time on me I promise time don't mean a thing It's just a word people use Try to make them feel like something's gonna change But I'm tired of this foolish pride This dark inside that haunts me When I try to move it carries me away from what my head's telling my heart I come back down to my darling I know just what she'll say Oh boy how I love you You can just put that foolish pride away Slater, you got a lot of things going on in that heart, mind, soul, spirit, voice, guitar. Thank you. I'm scared. That was so good, I'm scared. You got Carrie Underwood scared. Don't be scared. You got a lot more stories to tell, and we're glad you're telling them today. Thank you so much, y'all. Thank you. I wanted the judges to see a different side of me, still songwriter, but a different range of my voice, and I think that they got that. It's like watching Chris Stapleton. Yeah, or John Prine, or like Dylan. At 17. Right.