Julia Gagnon, a Cumberland resident and University of Southern Maine student, advanced to the top seven on “American Idol” on Monday night.
Her rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” wooed the judges, and Gagnon became emotional as they lavished her with praise, according to the Portland Press Herald.
The judges Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie and Luke Bryan each selected a song for the remaining eight contestants, and Gagnon chose “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” because her grandmother’s favorite movie was “The Wizard of Oz,” the Press Herald reported. In the movie, actress Judy Garland sings the song.
Gagnon and the other six contestants will return to the stage next week.
She won a platinum ticket during auditions, which allowed her to skip directly into the top 24, and which made her the first Mainer to make it past the auditions round on the long-running singing competition. She’s made it through seven rounds of eliminations. On Monday, Gagnon will find out if she’s made it into the top seven.
Gagnon made a compelling figure from her very first episode, when she shared her touching story of trying to make both her birth mother in Guatemala and adoptive mother in Cumberland proud.
Gagnon has received praise for her powerful, soulful vocals from the judges, guest mentors including Gene Simmons and Meghan Trainor, and people in Maine, including Gov. Janet Mills, who tweeted her support on April 22.
Her performances of songs by artists including Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Adele and Fantasia Barrino have made her a standout old-school soul singer in a season otherwise populated mostly by contemporary pop singers. Gagnon has been singing since she was a child, but she didn’t start doing it in public until more recent years, including competing in last year’s Central Maine Idol in Hallowell.
BDN writer Emily Burnham contributed to this report.
