Julia Gagnon, a Cumberland resident and University of Southern Maine student, cracked the top eight on “American Idol” on Sunday night.
Gagnon’s performance of Bryan Adams’ “Here I Am” won her praise from judges Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie and Luke Bryan, according to the Portland Press Herald.
She won a platinum ticket during auditions, which allowed her to skip directly into the top 24, and which made her the first Mainer to make it past the auditions round on the long-running singing competition. She’s made it through seven rounds of eliminations. On Monday, Gagnon will find out if she’s made it into the top seven.
Gagnon made a compelling figure from her very first episode, when she shared her touching story of trying to make both her birth mother in Guatemala and adoptive mother in Cumberland proud.
Gagnon has received praise for her powerful, soulful vocals from the judges, guest mentors including Gene Simmons and Meghan Trainor, and people in Maine, including Gov. Janet Mills, who tweeted her support on April 22.
Her performances of songs by artists including Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Adele and Fantasia Barrino have made her a standout old-school soul singer in a season otherwise populated mostly by contemporary pop singers. Gagnon has been singing since she was a child, but that she didn’t start doing it in public until more recent years, including competing in last year’s Central Maine Idol in Hallowell.
BDN writer Emily Burnham contributed to this report.
