Despite a strong audition, Murrieta resident Melanie Tierce was eliminated from “American Idol” last night during group auditions. Temecula resident Lindsey Carrier suffered the same fate, but all is not lost for one local hopeful. Anatalia Villaranda, 16, of Temecula, survived Wednesday night’s Line of 10 Eliminations and hit it out of the park during a performance with her group, Chicken Soup, wowing the judges and keeping herself, along with her group mates in the running for at least another week.
READ: Local ‘American Idol’ contestant hopes to inspire others with her musical journey
Villaranda got off to a rough start when creative differences between herself and her initial group – made up of three other contestants – left her scrambling for a new group to perform with. Her mother, Lea Villaranda, saved the day when she saw two other contestants looking for a third performer and called out to them, creating the winning combination with Dalton Rapattoni,19, and Kassey Levels, 19 both of Dallas, Texas.
On “American Idol,” groups are required to be made up of three or four performers – or face elimination.
“Thank God, like a shining light from heaven, Anatalia comes in and she saved our asses,” said Rapattoni.
The three harmonized perfectly during their performance of “Treasure” by Bruno Mars.
The judges were stunned by the performance, Keith Urban said he liked the group’s decision to “clip” words.
“For me those little things are what it is all about,” he said. “Standing out, getting attention, making it your own too, so you just aren’t singing a karaoke song. I think the three of you did really well.”
Harry Connick Jr. told the trio he thought they did as much with it as they could.
“You look great, nice job,” he said.
Jennifer Lopez said that things happen for a reason.
“Whatever the drama was, and whatever happened last night, you know I always believe that things happen for a reason,” she said.
There were some tense moments after the judges’ comments as Lopez explained that no matter how well a group does together the judges still had to make a decision on who to send through to the next round and who to send home.
“That’s the point of the competition that we are at right now,” she said. “But in this group that’s not the case, all of you are going through to the next round.”
Villaranda, who is a junior at Chaparral High School, is no stranger to being in the spotlight. she starred in several television shows such as “Shake it Up” on the Disney Channel and in a “Friends for a Change” television commercial. She was a finalist in Inland Idol, won first place in Temecula’s Got Talent and hosted her own special charity show.
“American Idol” airs Wednesdays and Thursdays on FOX at 8 p.m.
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