American Idol is back for its sixteenth season and the first night of auditions will air Sunday, March 11. There will be many precious moments captured between the rising stars and the celebrity judges. 18-year-old Noah Davis from Royal, Arkansas shares an adorable “wig” moment with Katy Perry. And high schooler Alyssa Raghu from Orlando, Florida will break down in tears during her audition.
Alyssa has been working hard up until this Idol moment. In April, the high school student played Nina Rosario in a production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights”. The character Nina is the first in her family and from the Barrio to go to college (Stanford, no less). Nina is known as “the one who made it out” until she returns home after dropping out. Nina was originally played on Broadway by actress/singer Mandy Gonzalez, who went on to play Elphaba in Wicked and Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton. Four months after playing Nina, Alyssa released her first original song “Leave” in August. American Idol airs Sundays at 8pm on ABC.
