Emily Brooke’s RaeLynn Cover Wows ‘American Idol’ Judges [Watch]
American Idol fans and judges saw a familiar face on Wednesday night when Emily Brooke returned to Fox's American Idol audition room to try to make her mark on the reality show's final season.
Judge Keith Urban gave the 16-year-old Florida teen a warm welcome back and was excited to see the young singer's growth in the past 12 months. Brooke took center stage with her guitar to perform her own rendition of fellow reality show alum RaeLynn's "Careless," which blew all of the judges out of the water.
On Season 14 of American Idol, Brooke made it through to the Hollywood Round, and even advanced one round beyond that. She was eliminated in the next round of cuts after a performance at House of Blues, but was encouraged to come back and visit the judges the following season. So she did.
"I'm here to prove to the judges since last season I've been working super hard," Brooke confessed to the camera right before her 2016 audition. "And just getting better on everything they said I needed to work on."
She heard their critiques last year and blew them away this year. Mid-performance, judges Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. not so quietly whispered about the improvements made by the aspiring country cutie.
"Remember we loved her last year," Lopez said, "And we were waiting for that thing to happen."
Make sure to watch Emily's audition above, and be rooting her on all season long.
"For me that was unquestionably the best audition of the day," Connick praised. "I like you a lot better than I did last year, and that makes me really proud to be on American Idol, because that's what its supposed to do."
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