Fire Wilmore did make it through the American Idol auditions after she had been invited to come back and audition again in the previous year.
Fire Wilmore, who auditioned for 2023’s American Idol competition, was a familiar face for some fans and the judges, as she had also auditioned the previous year before being invited to return with more experience.
Fortunately, she made it through the audition stage this time around.
Does Fire Wilmore make American Idol?
There are plenty of reasons why hopeful American Idol contestants do not make it past the audition phase of the competition. But in Fire Wilmore’s case, she was offered the rare chance to come back and redo her audition for the judges one year later.
Fire, who is a 22-year-old single mother, initially auditioned in front of Judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan with her rendition of “Talking to the Moon” by Bruno Mars.
Unfortunately, Fire was obviously extremely nervous and with her daughter by her side, the audition fell flat.
However, Perry decided that Fire showed enough potential to go away and work on her performance so that she could come back to audition for this year’s American Idol competition.
This proved to be good advice, and in her second go-around, singing “Love in the Dark” by Adele, she advanced straight to the second round of the competition.
What happened at Fire’s first audition?
After Fire’s rendition of “Talking to the Moon” ended, the judges were not happy. Perry complained that she slipped into her falsetto too often and did not use her full voice, but she was the only judge to give her a “yes” in the end.
In a sweet, but misguided moment, Fire’s daughter also “found” a golden ticket on the wall and handed it to her mother after she had just been rejected, which is what ultimately sparked Perry’s idea to give Fire a second chance.
What motivated Fire to come back?
Upon her return to American Idol, Fire explained that she had truly taken the judges’ advice to heart and had been practicing her performance whenever and wherever she could, because she wanted to prove that she deserved her second chance.
She also said that she wanted to make her daughter proud and overcome her own fears and doubts.
Was the vote to send Fire through unanimous?
Fortunately, Fire’s hard work and dedication seemingly paid off and although Luke Bryan said that she was not the best singer in the competition, she earned a unanimous “yes” from the judging panel.
All of the judges also noted that they could see the change in her from her previous audition and Lionel Richie commented that she had a “great tone”.