Claudia Conway digs into her past for 'American Idol' audition. Will she make it to Hollywood?
b'Claudia Conway digs into her past for \'American Idol\' audition. Will she make it to Hollywood?\\n"American Idol" is back!\\n\\nABC\'s singing competition returned Sunday night with a premiere that saw Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie back in the (socially distanced) judges\' seats. But they weren\'t the only familiar faces.\\n\\nClaudia Conway, the 16-year-old daughter of former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and attorney George Conway, a fierce Trump critic, walked into the "Idol" audition room hoping to score a prized golden ticket to Hollywood. Accompanied by her dad, the teen showed off her vocal chops while getting personal about her upbringing.\\n\\n"It\\u2019s a lot, but, you know, I only want to spread love," she told the judges. "I love a compromise, and I do agree to disagree with my mom and my dad.\\u201d\\n\\nBefore her audition, Conway shared a moment with her mother, who appeared remotely on a large screen. When her daughter admitted to feeling nervous, Kellyanne replied, "You should be nervous, honey."It\\u2019s a very humbling experience," Kellyanne continued. "But remember, honey, winners are people who are willing to lose."\\n\\nClaudia opened up to the judges about her complicated relationship with her mom.\\n\\n\\u201cShe loves me. I love her," the teen said. "I feel like our relationship\\u2019s a little iffy. Most of my life, my feelings had been suppressed, so then I got social media, and I was like \'Well, damn. Now my voice is being heard.\' "Conway currently has more than 1.7 million followers on TikTok and has made national headlines for posting videos on the site critical of former President Donald Trump.\\n\\n"The internet can be a very, very dark place, but when life is all going downhill, I have my music," she said. "Now I kind of want to get out of the controversy, get out of the drama, get out of the political whatever, and let people know that I am a singer and that this is what I want to do."After the heartfelt introduction, it was time to put Conway\'s voice to the test. The teen sang "Love on the Brain" by Rihanna, but was interrupted by Perry after a rocky start.\\n\\n"OK, that song, you lost it," the judge said, before urging Conway to take off her sparkly high heels, which the teen said were tripping her up. Conway got a chance to redeem herself with a performance of Adele\'s "When We Were Young Before she started again, Perry gave an emotional pep talk.\\n\\n\\u201cWhen you sing this next song, think about when you were young, and go back to that time," Perry said. "There\\u2019s a sadness there. It\\u2019s like, you lost your youth, because you weren\\u2019t able to experience it on your own, without all of this noise."\\n\\nThe "Firework" singer continued: "Your dad\\u2019s your dad. Your mom\\u2019s your mom. Who is Claudia? You have to calm the storm that is around you, \'cause if you sing like you want to read the social media comments afterwards, you\\u2019re only ever gonna be a TikTok star. We want an American Idol."\'American Idol\': Contestant\'s Louis Armstrong cover moves judges during first taped-from-home show\\n\\nAs Conway channeled her past for her second chance, her dad listened from outside the audition room.\\n\\n\\u201cI couldn\\u2019t imagine anything that would make her happier than to do this," he said, wiping tears from his face.\\n\\nBut were the judges as moved?\\n\\nBryan said Conway was limited by her range. Richie said her second song was better than her first, showing she could improve with coaching. Perry suggested Conway unplug from social media to let her voice shine through. There\\u2019s a lot of noise in your life," she said. "Before you sing, you need to get off your phone. You need to stop reading your comments. Push it aside. Because if not, you may not ever rise above your dad or your mom. It\\u2019s your choice."\\n\\nKaty Perry, George Conway jump in to support Trump critic Claudia Conway\'s \'American Idol\' audition\\n\\nThen it was time to vote.\\n\\nBryan was a no. Perry was a yes. Which meant it all came down to Richie. Ok done'