Just a few weeks into the latest season of American Idol, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie have made it clear that they think newest judge, and OG Idol season four winner, Carrie Underwood is a bit of a push-over who just wants to help everyone make it to Hollywood.
But on Sunday night’s episode, 22-year-old Isaiah Moore of Oneonta, AL had all three judges crying in their pink Poppi cups with a life story that was as emotional as the song he chose to cover. The singer/worship pastor revealed that he arrived at the audition after he and his wife of seven days, Abby Grace, agreed to cancel their honeymoon so Isaiah could shoot his shot on the show.m
“We had a cruise to the Caribbean for our honeymoon,” Isaiah said before his audition on Sunday night (March 16). “But ultimately, my wife, she told me that there was no other option but to cancel it and come here to audition in Nashville.”
Moore told the panel about his rough upbringing, which included his mother’s struggles with drug use and multiple trips to jail, resulting in him and his brother being raised by their grandparents. With a smile on his face, Moore said his mother – who was at the audition with him, along wit his maw-maw and paw-paw — is now three-years sober, though he choked up when he noted that his younger brother could not make it because of his current struggles.
Isaiah then dedicated a moving cover of Luke Combs’ “Where the While Things Are” to his brother, singing with grit and a heart-heavy weariness as he crooned, “Oh, it’s hearts on fire and crazy dreams/ Oh, the nights ignite like gasoline/ And light up those streets that never sleep when the sky goes dark/ Out where the wild things are.” By the end of the song about a brother lost to the wild things, all three judges had a hitch in their voice.
“You’ve got some power in that voice,” Underwood said, with Bryan adding, “I think there’s a story in that voice. That song kind of showcases a lot of parallels in your life and a lot of people’s lives.” Richie said he felt passion and the pain in the performance. “You’re carrying a lot inside but your blessing is that you can actually deliver it in a vocal,” he said. “It’s touching. I enjoyed your performance. It’s was just… smokin’.”
Underwood praised Moore for his powerful voice and storytelling and his ability to connect with the judges. She asked Isaiah to bring his family in and he got emotional as he introduced his family, with the judges passing him through to Hollywood with no reservations.
American Idol airs every Sunday on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
Watch Isaih Moore’s American Idol audition below.
