During the third episode of American Idol auditions, judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie will meet Kenedee Rittenhouse of Checotah, Oklahoma. The 20-year-old country singer is from the same town as Carrie Underwood, winner of American Idol, Season 4 in 2005. Rittenhouse met Underwood in 2009 when Underwood return to her hometown for a performance. Underwood asked Rittenhouse to sing with her on stage. Rittenhouse says, “I was so in shock, but after that, I just knew this was definitely what I wanted to do when I was older,” she told CBN News.
Rittenhouse , who auditioned twice for The Voice as a teen, says it’s now her time to shine. She says she wants to bring back “the traditionalism in country music” and wants Christian songs to be “more normalized in Hollywood.” She sites Underwood’s performance at the 2011 ACM Superstar Women of Country Music event as a shining example. Rittenhouse said when Underwood sang “How Great Thou Art”, she brought “people to their knees.” (See video below. That’s Vince Gill on guitar.) Rittenhouse says, “I want to do that for people too.” American Idol airs Sundays and Mondays at 8pm on ABC.
