Man, I wasn’t ready to get teary-eyed on a Monday.
American Idol is once again in full force, and in last night’s episode, we were introduced to 21-year-old Trey Louis (not to be confused with the “Dicked Down in Dallas” Trey Lewis), from Santa Fe, Texas.
Rocking a sweet mullet, Louis walked into the audition room and talked about how he’s a full-time mattress salesman, and Luke Bryan hilariously asked:
“Have you ever caught anybody trying to have a little whoopee in the store?”
And Louis responded:
“That’s a good question, I’ve had people come in and ask me questions regarding how good you can perform on the bed… I can kinda give them like ‘yeah man this one bounces good, or this one has a good firmness to it.'”
However, it wasn’t the personality that really hooked the judges.
Louis put on an incredible rendition of Whiskey Myers’ “Stone,” with a voice that will have you drawing comparisons to the likes of Chris Stapleton.
It was an impressive performance, especially considering he chose such a difficult song to sing. Mix in his charisma and vocals, and this kid really has a chance to win it all this year.
But, perhaps the most moving part of the whole audition, is when Louis gave his story.
Back in 2018, a gunman walked into Santa Fe High School and killed eight students, and two teachers.
Louis was in class during the shooting, and the gunman walked into his classroom.
He explained:
“In May 2018, a gunman walked into my school. I was in Art Room 1, and he shot up Art Room 2, before he made his way to Art Room 1.
Lost a lot of friends… eight students were killed, two teachers were killed, and it’s just really been negative man. Santa Fe’s had a bad wrap since 2018.”
That’s when Katy Perry couldn’t hold back any longer, and said in tears:
“Our country has f*cking failed us. This is not okay. You should be singing here because you love music, not because you had to go through that f*cking bullsh*t.
You didn’t have to lose eight friends. I hope that you remind people that we have to change. Because you know I’m scared too.”
The three judges, with tears in their eyes, proceeded to all give Louis a yes, and he’s now going to Hollywood.
You can check out the full audition here:
