Emmy Rose Russell / Instagram, American Idol / YouTube
Season 22 of American Idol premiered on February 18, 2024. There have been countless talented performers including Julia Gagnon, Makenna Faith Breinholt, Abi Carter, Triston Harper, and Emmy Russell.
Emmy has connected with the audience with her vulnerable original songs and backstory.
Emmy is one of late country legend Loretta Lynn’s grandchildren. She grew up going on the road with her “Memaw,” and she would even join her grandmother on stage and perform for her fans.
Emmy’s mom is Patsy Lynn-Russell, one of Loretta’s youngest children. Loretta’s youngest kids are twins, Patsy and Peggy. Patsy is of course named after Loretta’s dear friend, Patsy Cline! Together, Patsy and Peggy performed as the duo The Lynns and in 1997 had a hit song titled “Woman to Woman.” Their song earned them two Vocal Duo of the Year nominations at the CMAs in 1998 and 1999.
RELATED: Meet All Six Of Loretta Lynn’s Children [LIST]
To celebrate Emmy’s incredible run on American Idol, which is nowhere near over, let’s take a look at all of her performances!
Emmy walked into the American Idol audition very timidly. But, her talent as a singer-songwriter shined through her nerves. She performed an original song titled “Skinny,” which she wrote about an eating disorder she developed after being criticized for her weight while performing with her grandmother.
For the next round, Emmy performed another original song, titled “Like That.” The judges continued to be in awe of her songwriting talent and her ability to tell a story in her music. She made the historic cut from 143 to 56.
With 56 competitors left, Emmy took on the Ingrid Andress song “More Hearts Than Mine.” She actually followed Mia Matthews, who performed the Loretta Lynn song “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man),” which made Emmy pretty emotional. She was able to overcome those emotions and deliver an incredible performance that the judges gave a standing ovation.
She was chosen to advance to the next round, the Round of 24, which took place at Disney’s Aulani Resort!
Despite being incredibly nervous during rehearsals with guest mentor Jelly Roll, Emmy delivered a flawless cover of Benson Boone’s song “Beautiful Things.” Emmy told Jelly Roll that she chose the song because she really connected to the lyrics, “God don’t take away these beautiful these I got.”
Following her performance, Jelly Roll said, “I am so proud of you. I know how anxious you’ve been about this, and watching you sit there and deliver, you were present you were there,” while Lionel Richie said, “You have a texture in your voice that is your career. And on top of that, what you have is a storyteller’s voice.”
Katy Perry praised the singer-songwriter by saying, “I know you didn’t write that song, but you sang it like you did, and I believe you.”
Emmy went back to her songwriting roots for her performance during the Top 20 round. She sang an original song called “Want You.” Fans thought this was a major turning point in her Idol journey. One fan on YouTube wrote, “I looked at my wife and asked, ‘who is that?’ Emmy seemed far more confident. This was a glimpse into her future CMA performance after winning ‘best new artist’.” Amazing.”
It was enough that America voted her into the Top 14.
For her Top 14 performance, Emmy revisited her audition song, “Skinny,” which felt super authentic in her choice of going barefoot and wearing just a t-shirt and jeans. She sang with a different kind of confidence that really made viewers see how much she has grown in this competition from her first audition.
For the Top 12 episode, which was Rock & Roll Hall of Fame themed, Emmy performed Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and garnered positive reviews from the judges and fans online.
“Oh, wow ! She took this classic song and made it her own and she did an outstanding job. A very beautiful performance!” one fan wrote.
This episode had a Billboard hits theme, so every song has topped a Billboard chart. Emmy chose Selena Gomez’s song “Lose You To Love Me.” She advanced to the Top 10 after this performance!
During the Top 8 round, Emmy performed Blink 182’s “All The Small Things,” and was mentored by Shania Twain in the process! The theme of the night was 1999, so all the contestants had a choose a song that was released that year.
Luke told her, “If you would have told me a month and a half ago that one of your best vocals would be a Blink-182 song…It was great. It was so you and that’s why we love you. That’s why America’s loving you.”
Before finding out she made the Top 7 cut, Emmy closed out the show with an extremely emotional rendition of “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which was famously written and recorded by her late grandmother, Loretta Lynn. Tears were shed by nearly everyone watching, including judges Luke Bryan and Katy Perry.
We can’t wait to see what she is working on for next week!
Which performance of Emmy’s was your favorite? Hopefully she will have many more for us to choose from!
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