CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Teenage Clarksville singer/songwriter Haven Madison got some great news after her audition on the premiere episode of “American Idol” that airs this weekend.
At the end of Haven’s performance of her original song “Fifteen,” with the plaintive chorus “What if I want it now?” judge Katy Perry jumped from her seat and shouted, “You can have it! You can have it right now!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvYtg5zRRSU
Judge Lionel Ritchie said they needed to stop the show and go to the studio to record the song immediately.
Haven’s father, Jason Roy, who accompanied her on guitar, was moved to tears at the end of the performance, with Perry asking, “Dad, are you OK?”
Ritchie told Haven, “You can be anything you want to be right now. It’s believable. Artist, voice, songwriting: check, check, check. I don’t see anything wrong now except the world don’t know anything about you, but they will.”
Perry praised her vocal decisions. “They were so you and authentic, and coming from your heart.”
Judge Luke Bryan said, “When a 16-year-old can really speak 16-year-old language – that all the other 16-year-olds want to hear – it’s really special.”
All three judges voted to move Haven on to the next level.
Haven, a student at Clarksville High School, will appear on the episode that airs Sunday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. Central on ABC.