Lanii went through a lot to make it to American Idol. The 19-year-old high school student decided to take a plane for the first time and travel alone to Nashville to audition for the show.
She did so in honor of her dad, who was in the ICU fighting for his life.
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“This is all for him. I’m doing this for him,” Lanii told judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood. “He believed in me and I’m here and I want this more than ever now.”
Speaking to the cameras, Lanii opened up move about her relationship with her dad.
“I’m very insecure about my voice, but my dad believed in me when no one else did,” she said. “He saw it in me, even when I didn’t see it in myself.”
Lanii went on to call her dad “the kindest person in the world,” before revealing that he’d been battling addiction for years.
“There were so many nights I would just cry from watching my dad stumble upstairs,” she said. “And he would say, ‘Tonight’s going to be my last drink’ every day.”
Lanii’s dad eventually stopped drinking, but, not long after, he developed liver failure and wound up in the hospital.
“He is currently awaiting a transplant,” she said. I really want my dad to be in my future, but this could be my last chance to show him his daughter tried for him.”
Lanii Earns Her Golden Ticket on American Idol
When it came time for her audition, Lanii delivered an incredible performance of Demi Lovato’s “Tell Me You Love Me.”
“You have an incredible voice,” Underwood told the teen. “I don’t even know if you know what you could be capable of, but you completely owned that. That was awesome.”
Bryan concurred, stating, “You’re out here being so real and open with us. You’re not hiding anything. You’re not trying to be something you’re not. You’re just being authentically you.”
“There’s just something really special about you,” he added. “How brave you are to get on a plane and roll the dice and just sing your little heart out. That’s what this show’s about.”
As for Richie, he wiped tears away as he told Lanii, “You walked in the door with all this bubbling personality and gave us an artist… It’s pretty uplifting to see the human spirit. You’re a perfect example of it.”
After earning three yeses from the judges, Lanii didn’t have anyone to celebrate with since she came to her audition alone. Richie took care of that problem, as he and the other judges walked around their table to hug the singer.
“We love you. We’re the family,” he said. “Welcome to the family.”
When Lanii made her way outside, she got cheers from the Idol crew too, before she told the cameras, “This is everything. To you guys it’s just a card, but this is the beginning of everything.”
American Idol airs Mondays on ABC.
Photo by Disney/Eric McCandless