OCALA, FL (352today.com) – We don’t want to ruin the results for anyone who has not yet watched Sunday’s and Monday’s episodes of ABC’s American Idol.
North Central Florida has been rooting for Ocala musician Emery Robbins.
Robbins performed on Easter Sunday at the Church @ The Springs in Ocala. That’s where his music career began when he was approached by someone with the church youth program.
“I started in the corner playing the guitar and just hanging out,” recalled Robbins last month when he spoke to 352today’s Joseph Jackimczuk.
Robbins then began making a name for himself, performing gigs at venues around town, including the Reilly Arts Center, while continuing to perform for his church. After his graduation from Forest High School in Ocala this past May, Robbins continued to pursue music and began posting videos of himself singing on the social media platform TikTok.
That is until Robbins’ friend and mentor, Matt Overfelt, told Robbins he was going to send in an application for him to become the next American Idol.
“Matt actually sent a recording and he filled out all my information and pretended to be me,” said Robbins.
Lo and behold… Robbins received an invitation to audition in Nashville, TN.
Robbins made his way to Music City and auditioned in front of superstar judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.
“It genuinely didn’t feel real,” said Robbins and described the judges as looking like holograms.
He performed one of his favorite songs, “Godspeed,” by Zach Bryan and got the nod from the celebrity panel of judges, receiving the coveted golden ticket to Hollywood.
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Idol’s Hollywood Week is when the judges narrow a large pool of 143 candidates down to 56.
Then after a showstopper round of performances, the judges make even deeper cuts to produce the season’s top 24.
When we spoke with Robbins, he wasn’t sure if his Hollywood Week performance would be shown on this past Sunday’s or Monday’s episodes which aired live on ABC stations at 8 p.m. ET.
If you’re wanting to find out for yourself how the 18-year-old does by watching the singing competition, STOP HERE.
**SPOILER ALERT**
We have watched both shows from Sunday, March 31, and Monday, April 1, and regrettably Robbins is not in the top 24.
With more than 100 competitors, not everyone’s performance makes the producers’ cut for the shows. Unfortunately, Robbins’ performance was one of those. Family and fans were likely disappointed to not even get to see him perform on the Idol stage.
While Robbins didn’t make it to the top 24, he’s #1 in the hearts of many fans in Ocala and around North Central Florida.