CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Local singer Tristan McIntosh visited Ryan and Gretchen in the Morning on Q108 Wednesday as she prepares to continue her American Idol journey when the Hollywood auditions air this week.

The 15-year-old hails from the Middle Tennessee area and was the winner of Q108’s Clarksville’s Got Talent competition in 2012.

“We recognized her talent first!” Gretchen joked.

RELATED CONTENT Local talent Tristan McIntosh is an ‘American Idol’ hopeful

She was recently honored by the Montgomery County Commission with a special proclamation.

Tristan said she has spent most of her time since then focusing on a potential music career.

“I’ve been practicing and doing a lot of gigs, basically just musician practices to do something better and prepare for every moment that’s ahead,” she told Ryan and Gretchen.

Tristan’s original American Idol audition quickly went viral after her mother, who was deployed to Kuwait at the time, surprised her on-camera by showing up at the audition.

Tristan said she and the rest of her family and friends had no idea she was going to appear.

“My mom is a very intricate woman,” Tristan said. “She had planned all the way from Kuwait to be able to be there at my audition, without anybody even knowing. My dad didn’t even know. My brother didn’t know.”

While Idol judge Harry Connick Jr. read a letter from Tristan’s mother to her on-air, Tristan broke down in tears.

“I was just like Harry, why are you doing this to me? I’m crying now on national television. And then she walks in and I just lose everything.”

Her audition earned her a spot in the competition, but she said the process was not as terrifying for her as it is for others.

“To audition in front of the judges, it’s actually for me not as nerve-wracking as people think it is, because honestly celebrities are just normal people, people like everyone else. As soon as I get comfortable when I’m singing, especially when I’m at the piano, it just becomes an easier experience for me,” she said.

“I look at the competition as not against the other contestants but as against yourself. You have to get better and better each week so you can prove yourself to the judges.”

Tristan will be featured on the Hollywood week auditions, but could not reveal anything beyond that. She hopes she can develop her talent to pursue a successful career.

“I have a feeling we’ll be hearing from her, maybe we’ll hear her right here on Q108,” Ryan said.

The first Hollywood episode airs Wednesday on Fox beginning at 8/7 central.

Watch Tristan’s 2012 Clarksville’s Got Talent performance below: