When American Idol season 14 kicks off tonight Carson City’s Molly Seals will get a look at some of her competition.
The 22-year-old Carson City woman was one of the ones to get her ticket to Hollywood after performing in front of Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban in Kansas City last year.
Seals got past the first round of cuts in Reno during the American Idol bus tour. That allowed her the opportunity to perform in front of the judges in Kansas City.
“I was a nervous wreck,” she said this week, adding the entire experience has been “crazy.”
But after nailing “My Baby Loves Me” by Martina McBride she was Hollywood bound.
In Reno, she performed “I Feel A Sin Comin’ on” by the Pistol Annies and “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks.
“Definitely a different feeling,” she said compared to local competitions when she has the opportunity to perform entire songs.
“It is like, quick, you have 20 seconds to show what you can do.”
For the country music enthusiast, the fourth time was the charm getting on Idol. She first tried out when she was 16.
“My brother (Jimmy) told my parents that they had to take me,” Seals said. “We were driving to San Francisco to audition when my mom asked “Do you really sing?
“My brother was my support system. When I was 17 he bought me a guitar and it has escalated from there.”
“Very proud, for a long time,” Jim Seals said of his daughter.
Seals, a cosmetologists at Cost Cutters, has performed locally and won local competitions. She’s currently preparing to be the opening act for Keith Anderson on Jan. 16 at the Knitting Factory in Reno.
“Just me and my guitar,” she said, adding she will get some help from a friend and a drum box.
She said the gig and Idol are just coincidences.
“This just happened,” she said crediting Amplified Entertainment. She said Anderson didn’t have an opener and Amplified suggested her.
“It is my first time opening for an established artist,” she said, citing her nerves. “Once I’m in front of the microphone and start singing, I’ll be comfortable.”
Seals could be one of the 24 finalists who will compete in the elimination round to become the next “American Idol” when they begin performing live in mid-March.
The title of “American Idol” will be determined in May.
As for if her dream of being the next American Idol is still alive, Seals said she couldn’t divulged anymore details and that we would all have to watch and see, but she’s enjoying the ride.
“How cool it is to be part of a show that is about something I love to do?”w