‘American Idol’ 2024 sneak peek: Katy Perry bursts into tears when adopted contestant is surprised with birth family [WATCH]

Denton Davidson
·2 min read
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“American Idol” returns to ABC on Sunday, February 18, but they’ve already released one tear-jerker of an audition featuring Gilbert, Arizona’s McKenna Breinholt. The 25-year old enters her audition telling judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, “I actually was adopted,” when asked if music runs in the family. At age 21 she sat down with her adopted parents and asked for any information they had on her birth mom. From there an emotional journey began. Watch McKenna’s audition below.

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“Her name was Amy Ross Lopez,” says McKenna. “She was a musician and she had passed away. I just wanted to know where I came from.” The aspiring pop star then explained she came into contact with her entire birth family this past summer. To her surprise, they all sing! With that backstory explained, McKenna auditions with “There Was Jesus” by Zach Bryan and Dolly Parton.

SEE ‘American Idol’ season 22 preview: The judges take a ‘Wizard of Oz’ journey in search of a superstar [WATCH]

“You’ve got a great voice,” says Katy. “It’s really signature and raspy and interesting.” Luke adds, “You’re really in control of what you’re doing … I thought it was great.” Lionel says, “I love the sound of your voice.” Next, they ask McKenna to invite her family in for her final judgment. In the surprise of a lifetime, the singer is greeted by her birth family and Katy bursts into tears.

“American Idol” ranked as the No. 1 program in the Sunday 8-10 p.m. time slot last season among Adults 18-49 and its time period for the fourth straight year in the demo. In addition, “American Idol” was ABC’s No. 1 program last season in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 and was the No. 1 most social reality series across all of television, with nearly 1 billion social video views. The 22nd season of “American Idol,” lucky number seven on ABC, is set to return on February 18.

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