'American Idol' judges were stunned by a singer’s first note — but her journey took a heartbreaking turn
Clara Rae appeared on 'American Idol' season 23 and stunned the judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan with her performance on Imagine Dragons' hit song 'Radioactive.' The 23-year-old Louisiana singer told the judges before her performance, "I'm that girl in the corner of the bar with her acoustic guitar." To which Richie quipped, "Sounds like a song to me," while Underwood began to breathe her music into those lyrics. Soon, Underwood asked the singer, who was dressed in all denim and a cowboy hat, "I assume you sing country music?" But Rae replied, "Actually, today, I'm thinking I'm going to do more of a pop/rock song." Bryan jokingly added, "And I'm going to sing a Pink Floyd," erupting laughter from Rae and fellow judges. However, Underwood patted the singer with, "I like that; you are showing us versatility right off the bat."
Amid Rae's performance, Bryan asked her to switch to "a cappella" and "keep going." And Rae did just that. All three judges gave Rae a round of applause as she finished the song. Later, Bryan explained why he did that: "You have, like, one of my favorite voices I've heard, certainly in Nashville, and I just really wanted to make sure I was hearing everything about what was going on in your voice." He added, "Everything that's going on is perfect right now, and your voice is, like, really unique. I mean, from the first note, Carrie and I went, Oh! Hello!"
Underwood jumped in and said, "The song was a surprise, which was great, and you made it your own; it was very cool." Richie also commented, "A lot of times, we all do it. You hide behind whatever you are playing, and you try to crank it up as loud as you can, so in case anything is a flaw, you won't see it or hear it." He continued, "You have a rasp in that voice of yours. You have a unique tool there."
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The singer revealed on the show that it was her dad who "pushed her into" singing. In a recent interview, the 23-year-old shared, "I’m a full-time gigging musician, so I typically sing what people would want to hear at a bar or venue that I’m playing at,” said Rae. “I don’t even really know how I would describe my stuff. I kind of just do what I feel like in the moment," as reported by Yahoo.
Even though Rae was eliminated from the competition after her performance with another contestant, John Foster, in the head-to-head round, the judges encouraged her to keep singing. Per the aforementioned outlet, Rae also added, "I was a little bit disappointed, but I’ve been working in the music industry for quite some time now. And so you anticipate a lot of no’s,” said Rae. “I wasn’t even expecting to really get that far, and I was just happy to be in the room. I was disappointed, especially because everyone’s going to Hawaii, and that would’ve been really fun. I’ve never been to Hawaii. But it was a great opportunity experience overall, and I’m nothing but thankful for it.”