Rejected ‘American Idol’ Contestant Who Delivered Broadway Rendition of Avril Lavigne Has ‘Come a Long Way’ With New Performance on TikTok
An American Idol contestant who tried out by singing a Broadway-worthy rendition of Avril Lavigne's "I'm With You" took to TikTok to showcase how much she's grown vocally since being rejected from the show.
Kenzie Elizabeth tried out in front of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan for the show's 20th season, which aired earlier this year. During her audition, the novice ventriloquist and Idol fan pulled out all the stops with a soulful, if at times sharp, performance.
"If there's ever a life story about Avril Lavigne, you better be trying out for it," Perry told the contestant, referring to her as a "Broadway babe." However, the "Firework" superstar and her fellow judges Kenzie she wasn't a strong fit for the competition.
Watch her theatrical audition below:
Kenzie graciously accepted the feedback — and she's clearly been working on her delivery in the months since her audition. The singer took to TikTok to showcase her growth by taking on "I'm With You" again.
In a video that has amassed more than 500,000 views to date, she highlighted one of the more strained moments from her audition and then sang the portion again. This time around, Kenzie sounds markedly more relaxed and in control of her voice, putting her own spin on the number with less over-the-top Broadway flair.
"This song may not be the best choice for me, but dang have I come a long way with it. The dynamics, the choices, the freedom of tension," she captioned the clip.
Watch below:
In the comments, users commended Kenzie for her growth and offered some tips to make the performance even stronger.
"I feel like [in] the current video you made the song more of your own instead of trying to sing it how it is originally," one viewer wrote.
Kenzie agreed, writing back, "That's one of the reasons I feel better with it. Again it's prob not the best song for my voice but it's nice to hear progress with it."
Kenzie then uploaded a few additional takes trying out some of her viewers' recommendations. "Again I realize the song isn't a good choice for my voice but it's still awesome to see my progress with it," she captioned another version.
In another video, Kenzie shared an original number that she seems even more comfortable with. She also urged her followers to check out her original music on various streaming services, where she releases under the artist name KZ Liz.