Watch ‘American Idol' Judges Give Out the First Platinum Ticket to 'The Most Gifted Singer Yet'

Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan give this amazing Canadian singer the first Platinum Ticket of the season.

The Platinum Ticket was introduced to American Idol last year in celebration of the talent competition’s 20^th anniversary. It was an exclusive ticket only given to one performer in each of the three audition cities. What makes it more special than the Golden Ticket is that the artist who is awarded it gets to skip the first round of performances during Hollywood Week and watch from the audience to suss out their competition.

The Platinum Ticket is back for Season 6 on ABC (Season 21 overall) and judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan awarded the first of three tickets to 17-year-old Tyson Venegas from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who wowed them with his performance of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind.”

Lionel told Tyson that his performance was amazing and asked him to bring his mother into the room. Lionel then joked with her saying, “He’s claiming to be 17 years old but he’s performing like a 45-year-old. Give me some validation here.”

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Mom Iris then surprised the “Endless Love” singer, saying, “One of his very first concerts was Lionel Richie. He was inspired by you and that’s where he learned to sing from his heart and tell stories.”

Lionel replied, “We’ve flipped the switch. I inspired him back then; he just inspired us today. Let me tell you, that performance was spot on professional.”

Then Katy said, “You sang notes and runs that I haven’t felt in my body in a long time, and I felt so connected. I felt alive.”

While Luke added, “You are exactly what we look for, what we pray for.”

So, then came the time to give Tyson his judgment, and Lionel explained, “[You are] in a little area we like to play with. There’s the Golden Ticket and then there’s the Platinum Ticket.”

He then looked at Katy and Luke and asked, “We’re on the same page, right?”

Katy said, “Oh, yeah.”

And the judges awarded Tyson the Platinum ticket, and said in unison, “You’re going to Hollywood.”

As Tyson was leaving, Lionel said, “I don’t know where you came from, but I am so glad you came by here.”

And Luke told his fellow judges, “He may be one of our most gifted yet.”

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Tyson came by his love of music at an early age. His parents would play a variety of music for him from The Beatles, to Michael Jackson, to Stevie Wonder because he was speech delayed.

“Tyson was 3 years old, and the pediatrician noticed he wasn’t speaking,” Iris said. “He loved music, so we used music to help develop his speech. Whenever he got on stage, he got to be the person he really wanted to be. From there, he developed his vocabulary.

“One of his biggest concerts growing up was Lionel Richie. I remember that moment where he looked up at me and said, ‘This is what I want to do. I want to do that. I want to make people happy.’ I’m crying right now because I so remember it and now, he gets to sing for Lionel Richie.”

In addition to the three Platinum Tickets awarded by the judges, viewers also got to award one through a voting process. At the end of 2022, during the American Music Awards, viewers were allowed to vote on one of three artists to receive the Platinum Ticket based on a video performance. The three were Elijah McCormick, Matt Wilson and Haven Madison. Elijah received the most votes, so he was sent straight through to Hollywood. But on tonight’s episode, we also saw Haven receive a Golden Ticket, so she will be there as well. We’ll have to wait for his audition night to find out whether Matt makes it through.

For his audition, Elijah performed “God Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts, Matt Wilson sang of “For Tonight” by Giveon, and Haven performed “Arcade” by Duncan Laurence.

American Idol airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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