Artist becomes third Arkansan to earn golden ticket on ‘American Idol’
By Brandon Evans
Click here for updates on this story
ROGERS, Arkansas (KHBS) — If you’ve been watching this season of “American Idol” you’ve seen two people from Arkansas earn their golden tickets to Hollywood.
What you have not seen, though is another Arkansas contestant from our area — Leyton Robinson.
We had the chance to talk to her about her “American Idol” experience and find out how she did.
Robinson is from Rogers.
Although she has not been featured on the show, she has been a part of this season.
She talked about what led to her getting the chance to audition.
“I posted a TikTok, and I do not have a lot of followers on TikTok yet, and this girl who was on a few years ago, her name is Lacy Kay Booth, and she’s kind of the same style as me, like country-folk. She saw a TikTok that I posted of me singing one of her original songs, and she put it on her Instagram, and then one of the people at ‘American Idol’ found me through that and reached out to me on Instagram and said ‘I really love your voice and your style. Would you come audition for our producers on Zoom?” Robinson said.
After two Zoom calls, she said they asked her to come to Las Vegas and audition in person for the judges.
“I’ve always wondered, ‘What am I going to sing if I was ever on the show?’ But I never thought I’d really do it, so when they reached out to me and when they said we want you to come audition for the judges, you’re just going to get a straight pass to go in front of the judges, was so excited, and very nervous,” she said.
Not every golden ticket winner is showcased in an episode, so we didn’t see her earn an advance to Hollywood, but we know she was good enough for the judges to sign off.
“So when I got two and a half yes’s, and they said you’re going to Hollywood, I think it was just like a moment where I felt like I can really do this for myself, and it’s not just my family and my friends saying oh I think you’re pretty good. I think you have something. It was three major people saying we believe in you, and we see something you have that people would love, and so that was empowering for me,” Robinson said.
Her father said he’s so proud of his daughter but not necessarily surprised at her success.
“It’s pretty humbling, and it’s also really rewarding to see her doing something she loves. And like we’ve said, when she came out as a baby, and she was talking, and then we knew when she was up because she was singing upstairs, so we knew she was ready for the day, so it’s really been a great journey,” Link Robinson said.
She certainly showed us some talent, both vocally and on guitar.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
