American Idol Season 18 Episode 2: Meet Julia Gargano who blew the judges away with her singing, songwriting
The new season of 'American Idol' kicked off last week and on February 23 we were treated to a whole new batch of auditions from idol hopefuls on Episode 2 of the show.
The judges from last season, namely Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, have returned with all their charm and good humor along with longtime host Ryan Seacrest and show mentor Bobby Bones.
One of the standout stars from this week's audition episode was the young Julia Gargano, a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Staten Island, New York.
Citing previous idol hopefuls such as Alejandro and Catie Turner as being the inspiration behind her motivation to audition, the young college-going Julia was quietly confident that she had what it took to be the next American Idol. She decided to showcase both her amazing singing and songwriting craft by performing her moving original song called 'Growing Pains' for the judges on the piano.
Julia's vocal chops and musical talent were a clear winner. The judges were blown away at how skilled she was, especially at such a young age.
A mesmerized Richie said her performance was "very good" while Luke Bryan said that her musical display was bigtime, both in terms of the music and presentation. An overwhelmed Katy Perry, who perhaps recognized a little bit of herself in the talented young star, immediately came over to embrace Julia and assure her that she would go far in the competition. All three judges were thrilled, telling Julia that she was a top five talent, and would certainly be a huge inspiration to other singer-songwriters in future editions of the competition.
When the time came to vote and put her through to the Hollywood round, all three judges were happy to give her a big "yes", or rather, a whispered "yes" as they did not want to prematurely alert Julia's large family who were straining their ears outside to catch the judges' announcement.
On social media, the response to Julia was exactly the same as the judges' reaction — fans all over the country were falling in love with her authentic story and voice.
"@Julia_Gargano was my favorite for sure. Her voice is like.. I CANNOT DESCRIBE #AmericanIdol" said one excited user. Another enthralled fan said, "I'm going out on a limb and saying that @Julia_Gargano will be in the @AmericanIdol Final 2 this year — would love to see her win it all. What a talent! #AmericanIdol."
We'd really like to see her there too.