On the third night of Season 2 American Idol auditions, judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie meet a talented and gorgeous young singer named Ashton Gill. She’s from the small town of Livingston, Louisiana (population 1,769). With her on acoustic guitar is her friend Laine Hardy. He plays to the side of the stage while she sings but the judges know talent when they see and hear it. Laine is asked to come front and center too during the auditions. He was a fan favorite on American Idol last year but was eliminated during the Final Judgment episode.
The handsome young man says Elvis Presley is his main influence. And like the the King, he has a winning smile which lights up a room. No wonder that Laine already has more than 115,000 followers on Facebook. He even has his own line of branded merchandise (t-shirts, baseball hats, guitar picks, koozies) for fans. One clever t-shirts reads “Ain’t a Party without a Hardy.” When not performing, Hardy says, “I write songs and drive my truck and burn gas in my spare time.” American Idol airs Sundays at 8 pm on ABC, right before Shark Tank which airs at 10 pm. [BONUS: Stream any ABC show through the ABC GO Digital App found here. Download is FREE.]
