Katy Perry called his voice ‘wild’ — but this laid-back 'American Idol' contestant barely reacted
Aaron Westberry may be one of the most laid-back 'American Idol' contestants. The Greenville boy who worked at a grocery store landed in the auditions of season 20, where he performed Sam Hunt's '2016' while playing the piano. When judges asked him, "Are you in college or anything?" Westberry replied, "I haven't made any big decisions yet." Hearing this, Katy Perry chuckled, "He hasn't made any big decisions; he is just appearing for American Idol." When he casually sat on the piano and started to sing, the judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie were surprised by his voice and the emotions he put in the lyrics.
Wrapping up the performance, Westberry walked back to the center of the stage, expressionless and with his hands in his pockets, looking at the judges. Curious about his easy energy, Richie couldn't help but ask, "Do you like working in the produce department? I mean, do you just have a passion for that produce? Westberry replied with a slow, drawling voice, "No." Richie asked again, "I didn't hear that." Westberry said it more enthusiastically this time, "No!" To which Richie replied, "There you go! That's what I was trying to tell you." Then he asked another question. "Do you want to be on American Idol?" "Yes!” replied the boy with an unimpressive tone.
"No, no, no. I’m going to ask you that again,” Richie said. "My bad, yes!” Westberry answered, this time raising his voice. “Understand that passion is the key here. You got it?” Richie, then, advised. Perry also added, "You’re really good. Your voice makes us melt. It doesn't have this crazy range. It doesn’t need this crazy range. It’s wild.” Bryan also didn't hold back and commented, "You have a heartbreak tone, man." "You can sing some stuff, and it pulls us in. We’re just like, ‘Oh my God, this kid is breaking our hearts. And you’re doing that with that tone you just gave us," he added. Bryan even went on to compare his performance with James Taylor. "You know James Taylor?" Bryan asked the young boy, who replied honestly, "No," shocking the judges and leading Bryan to say, "You are so raw, it isn’t even dead yet." Later, he also told Westberry, "You’re like walking melatonin."
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The judges sent the boy away with constructive advice, urging him to bring more passion and power to his vocals before delivering him three yesses. As the judges erupted with excitement, "You are going to HOLLYWOOD!" Westberry maintained his calm demeanor. He smiled while softly muttering, "Thank you very much," and then casually reached for his golden ticket, leaving the judges wide-eyed and speechless, totally stunned by his laid-back reaction to a life-changing moment!
Per the Greenville News, speaking of his success in the audition, Westberry said, "It took a while before it set in. I don't know; it was like the big stage and everything was going on... It just didn't hit immediately." The outlet also revealed that the 20-year-old discovered his passion for music during the COVID-19 pandemic while learning the tune of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and hasn't stopped since. He told the outlet, "When we were quarantining, I had a lot of time and realized this was kinda fun, and it built slowly from there." He added, "I like a wide variety of music, and my style will be popish going forward."