“You took Aretha, turned it upside down, and made it yours. I think it was just brilliant. Very, very good,” Lionel Richie gushed.
Rae; Photo Courtesy of American Idol via ABC
The final day of auditions for Season 24 of American Idol kicked off on Monday, Feb. 16, with a tall order and even higher expectations. 24-year-old Rae of Frederick, Maryland, chose to belt out a cover of “You Make Me Feel Like (A Natural Woman),” the iconic 1967 classic made famous by the legendary Aretha Franklin.
Rae had some big shoes to fill, something judge Lionel Richie seemed to clock within mere seconds of her performance. Taking on Franklin is never easy, but Rae was up for the challenge. She leaned into it.
Backed by a pianist whose steady piano chords created a soulful and intimate backdrop to Rae’s vocals, the hopeful stood confidently in the center of the room. Her raw vocals carried her from the very first note, showcasing her stunning vibrato. The velvety, rich tone of her low alto filled the room, while her higher notes soared effortlessly without losing their fullness.
Rae’s facial expressions throughout the take also came naturally, providing an authentic delivery for all three judges. So much so that they visibly leaned in while Rae sang the soaring chorus: “‘Cause you make me feel, you make me feel / You make me feel like a natural woman (Woman).”
Afterward, Luke Bryan was first to speak.
“I can’t believe we have not seen you in this room until now,” he said, stunned. “In my opinion, you did a lot of amazing things in that performance just then.”
“I think you kind of read Luke’s mind,” Carrie Underwood interrupted, recalling a moment Bryan had turned to her with a question mid-performance. “He was like, ‘Can she hit the ‘you’ in her chest voice?’ And you did it.”
She added, “You got some pipes for sure, which is your whole goal — to come in and show us what you got. A little trouble landing the plane, but right at the end, we were flying high, so it really didn’t matter because you did enough throughout the rest of the song. Great voice.”
“Love your choices,” Lionel Richie added. “You took Aretha, turned it upside down, and made it yours. I think it was just brilliant. Very, very good.”
A self-proclaimed American Idol superfan, just getting the chance to audition was a dream come true for Rae. She shared that her family was there to support her, including her father, Gerald, who recently went through a major health emergency.
“I think that it came at the perfect time,” Rae told the judges, growing emotional. “My whole family’s here. My dad actually suffered from a stroke a year ago, a severe one. I almost lost him, and he is here with me right now…. So it’s really crazy that we’re here. I didn’t think that we would be in this position.”
With Rae’s family brought into the room, the panel of celebrity judges cast their vote, and it was a unanimous yes. Rae walked away with a golden ticket to Hollywood, marking the start of what could be a powerful journey ahead.
“I’m proud of you. I’m so proud of you. My little princess is gonna be the next American Idol, I feel it in my bones,” Rae’s dad said as she held onto her golden ticket.
New episodes of American Idol air every Monday night at 8/7c on ABC and are available to stream the next day on Hulu.