Kamryn Richard of Townsend visits the WXLO studios and talks bid for 'American Idol'
Townsend-native Kamryn Richard, 24, recently made a personal promise to legendary multi-Grammy-winning recording artist Lionel Richie.
"When you get your record deal, we want three backstage passes," Richie said to Richard.
Richard agreed.
Richard auditioned twice for the latest season of “American Idol,” in front of celebrity judges Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan.
Richard was in Downtown Worcester Tuesday to do on-air interviews on the XLO Morning Show with Jen Carter and Frank Foley on WXLO 104.5 FM and Mike Hsu on The Pike 100.1 FM.
Richard — who graduated from North Middlesex Regional High School in 2018 and UMass Lowell with a degree in music business — started singing at school concerts at Ashby Elementary School, began performing professionally at 13 and is self-taught on the guitar and piano.
She has performed the National Anthem at TD Garden at a Boston Bruins Game, Gillette Stadium at the New England Revolutions and Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox.
After the show’s casting producer Kyle Khou found her on Instagram, Richard did several “American Idol” auditions on Zoom, starting in May.
In September, Khou told Richard that they wanted her to audition in front of the celebrity judges.
In the end of October, Richard went to Nashville.
Despite performing for half her life, Richard confesses that she was “totally” nervous at the audition.
“I’m less nervous with performances because I do it a lot. I’ve gotten used to it,” she said. “But, because of the weight of the audition and who I am singing in front of and all that, it was definitely nerve-racking. But, once I started singing I was comfortable.”
For her first audition, Richard sang Kelly Clarkson’s “Already Gone” a Capella.
“I made it through, which was awesome. Luke had said no first and Lionel had said yes and it went to Carrie. So I didn’t know which way it was going to go so they called this little huddle,” she recalled. “It felt like forever but I don’t know how long it actually was. I, kind of, blacked out in the moment. So I’m just watching them whisper, couldn’t hear anything. And they turned around and they showed me the gold ticket and went, ‘You’re going to Hollywood.’”
Then Richard came out of the audition room and was reunited with her parents.
“My dad started crying. My mom was jumping around and wooing and yelling and all that stuff. And they had the camera right there,” she said. “They’re like, ‘How do you feel? Where are you going?’ And, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to Hollywood’ and I could feel one singular tear drift down my cheek.”
In the end of January in Hollywood, Richard estimates 130 aspiring singers carrying a golden ticket auditioned in front of the judges for a second time and only 50 advanced.
Richard said all the contestants would sit in the “Idol Arena” waiting for their name to be randomly called for her second audition.
For there, it was a waiting game on who made the final cut.
“It was really cool to see everybody, because I made some friends at the audition,” Richard said. “But, it was also really intense, because everybody’s incredible and that’s you’re competition, unfortunately.”
For her second audition on “American Idol,” Richard performed “Leave Me Lonely,” Ariana Grande’s duet with Macy Gray, in front of Richie, Underwood and Bryan, as well as all the other contestants, who, she said, supported each other.
All three of them (Richie, Underwood and Bryan) stool up when I was done and gave me a standing ovation,” she said. “That was really crazy.”
Then she received a quick comment from the judges.
“Lionel was the one who called my name up there so he is the one to give me feedback,” Richard said. “And Lionel’s comment was, ‘When you get your record deal, we want three backstage passes.’ That what he said.”
At the end of the second day, “American Idol” split all of the aspiring singers into four room and the judges took turns telling the groups whether they’re going forward or go home.
Although Richard didn’t make the final cut, you could see her briefly sitting on the arm of a couch in the back bracing herself for the news on the episode of “American Idol” that ran Monday (and is available on Hulu).
“Lionel said each of them had their favorites but we weren’t going forward,” Richard said. “Obviously, it’s a bummer. I would have loved to see how far I could do all the different kinds of challenges and runs, see how far I could go. But, I’m just glad I got to do it and meet people and get to sing in front of Luke and Lionel and Carrie.”