To some, it might be intimidating to be judged on live television by Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan but it didn’t faze 17-year-old Chaislyn Jane King.
When King was 16, she heard a commercial for Bayou Idol, a Denham Springs singing competition. She called her mom immediately after and had her sign her up for the 2017 competition. Little did she know that this singing competition would mark the beginning of the journey of a lifetime.
She didn’t know what she was walking into whenever she stepped on stage, but she hasn’t looked back since. Without even realizing it, she finally began to live out the dream she had since she was a little girl.
“I remember feeling nervous, but I was also really enjoying it because singing is something that I’ve always loved,” King said. “There’s videos of me singing at 2 years old.”
As a prize for winning the competition, the host of Bayou Idol wrote a song for King, which he later titled “That’s Jackson Square.” King is currently finishing up the music video for the song, but before she even began working on the music video, she got an email from a rep from “American Idol” that seemed too good to be true.
When King first received the email asking her to interview for “American Idol,” she thought it was fake. After her mom closely reviewed the email, they realized that it was real and King went to New Orleans to audition.
After her audition in New Orleans, she got the golden ticket and traveled to Hollywood to sing in front of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. Richie and Bryan said “yes,” but Perry said that it just wasn’t King’s time yet.
“It was so crazy and such an honor to sing to them,” King said. “Katy said that I might not be the next pop star, but I don’t really want to be a pop star. I’m a folk singer.”
King was eliminated from “American Idol” before reaching the final 24, but her experience in Hollywood and the life-long friends made her feel like a winner, she said.
King started writing music just after she came home from “American Idol.” She said she was inspired to write after the competition because she realized that if she was going to continue in her singing career, she would need to have her own songs. She has an EP that will be released sometime before the new year.
“I never thought that I would be writing my own music, much less having my own EP,” King said. “It’s a dream come true.”
She has been in musical theatre since she was 6, whether it was in an acting troupe or through her church. Now, after the craze from “American Idol,” you can find King working on music videos, fine tuning her EP or performing at local venues. She is set to perform at Caliente on Lee drive on November 16 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
“It’s crazy to think that I only started singing a little over a year ago,” King said. “I can’t wait to release my music and share my passion with the world.”