Photo: ABC
Carrie Underwood was “teary-eyed” after an American Idol hopeful’s heartfelt tribute to her late sister.
Samantha Ray, 22, a stay-at-home mom, said she and her sister grew up singing together in their hometown of Ila, Georgia. She said she was “thinking about my sister a lot,” as she performed a powerful rendition of Lee Ann Womack’s iconic ballad, “I Hope You Dance.” Ray shared that she lost her younger sister, Taylor, earlier this year to a drug overdose. The pair “were very close,” and Ray said “it’s really heartbreaking” that Taylor’s two young sons lost their mother.
Judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie assured Ray she “did a great job” with her audition. Underwood fought back tears during the emotional moment, and Richie admitted, “from the first note, I was trying to compose myself because every once in a while, we just run across some people who have the absolute trigger on emotions. You did it perfectly.”
“We didn’t know what you were thinking about, but we knew you were thinking about something. And that’s being a storyteller,” Underwood, a first-time judge who won American Idol in 2005, told Ray about her performance. “That pulls people in, and that was really special.”
Bryan added that “it’s nice just to hear somebody sing a classic like that, but you did it your own way. You don’t really overthink it, and it felt very listenable. It’s a ‘yes’ from me.”
Richie and Underwood agreed, unanimously sending Ray through to Hollywood. Watch the emotional moment here: