The 22nd season of “American Idol” premiered Sunday and one of its contestants brought Katy Perry to tears.
To end the episode, McKenna Breinholt recounted an emotional story of how she was adopted by a loving family at a young age. But when she turned 21, the Gilbert, Arizona singer said she wanted to learn more about her birth mother only to learn that she had passed away in 2013.
While she said earlier on that none of her adoptive family has any musical talents, Breinholt discovered that her mother, Amy Ross Lopez, was a musician as well as the rest of her birth family were musicians. Up until that point, Breinholt admitted she was in touch with her birth family, but only via FaceTime.
During her audition, McKenna Breinholt, 25, sung a rendition of Zach Williams and Dolly Parton’s song, “There Was Jesus.” While she was singing, host Ryan Seacrest mingled with her adopted and birth family (who Breinholt was unaware was outside) behind closed doors.
At the end of her performance, Breinholt was surprised with an unexpected reunion with her birth family, bringing the contestant — and Perry — to tears. To top it off, Breinholt, surrounded by her adopted and birth family, sung “Tumbleweed,” one of her late mother’s original songs.
When asked if the performance sounds like her mother, Breinholt’s birth grandmother responded: “It’s like a ghost.” Perry, with tears in her eyes, referred to Breinholt’s performance as “healing,” before moving her forward. Judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan also moved Breinholt forward to Hollywood giving her the golden ticket.
Breinholt is active on Instagram where she has shared updates of her music, travels and family, and now, “American Idol” updates.
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Saleah Blancaflor may be reached at sblancaflor@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @saleyley and Instagram.