A young woman has spoken about the “very surreal” experience of auditioning for American Idol. In October, Grace Bridie, 20, from Brighton auditioned for the television singing competition which has launched the careers of artists like Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks. Grace was scouted to audition by the show’s producers when a video of her singing Unconditional by Sinead Harnett at her dad’s wedding went viral on TikTok.
The video racked up eight million views and, liking what they saw, producers were soon in touch. @gracebridiemusic #@Sinéad Harnett everyone tag! #music #unconditional #wedding #singing #music #artist #song #fyp #foru #foryoupage ♬ original sound - gracebridiemusic Grace said: “They reached out to me on Instagram – I didn’t think it was real so ignored it. They messaged again and I thought ‘what’s the harm?’.
We spoke on Zoom and then it was very quickly get your bags packed and come to New York to audition.” In a “full circle moment”, the former Patcham School student sang Unconditional to judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan. She said: “It was very surreal and overwhelming but such a nice experience.
It was such a great opportunity so it’s a blessing either way.” Since the video of her singing at her father's wedding went viral, Grace, who still works full time as an estate agent, has been booked for weddings abroad. Grace has been singing since she was little (Image: Submitted) Grace, who went to Brigh.