During the Sunday, May 3 episode of “American Idol,” host Ryan Seacrest announced that Julia Gargano was one of the Top 11 contestants still in the running to join the reality TV show’s iconic winners list. This 21-year-old performed Billy Joel‘s “New York State of Mind” from home in Staten Island, New York as viewers and judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie watched remotely from locations around the country. If you want Julia to make it into next week’s Top 7, you need to vote before the cutoff time at 9am ET/6am PT on Monday, May 4.
You can cast up to 30 votes for Julia Gargano across three different platforms: 10 votes on the “American Idol” app, 10 votes online at americanidol.com/vote or 10 votes via text messages (text the number “17” to 21523). Message and data rates may apply for app download and usage. Voting is open RIGHT NOW, so what are you waiting for?
Julia, who you may remember received a big bear hug from Katy at her original audition, heard nothing but raves this week from the panel of judges. “I’m speechless,” declared Luke before adding, “That might be my most favorite performance of the year thus far.” Lionel loved how Julia took “the Billy Joel song and made it your song.” And Katy wrapped things up by agreeing with Luke that it was “maybe one of the best” of the season.
In his “American Idol” live blog, our recapper Denton Davidson had this to say about Julia’s performance: “Tonight she’s singing ‘New York State of Mind’ by Billy Joel. I love this song choice for her and I’m excited to hear her take on it. She’s switched things up this week by ditching the guitar and focusing solely on her voice. This is sort of a bluesy, laid back version that works nicely but I’m not terribly excited by this performance either. The judges are obsessed with her though and give her a standing ovation. Luke calls it the best performance of the year, Lionel says it’s fantastic and Katy thinks she grew to an even higher level.”
Julia previously sang an original song at her initial audition, “Glitter in the Air” in the Hawaii showcase round and “Human” in the Top 20 remote show. What is your favorite Julia performance so far on “American Idol” Season 18? Sound off down in the comments section.
