A teenager from B.C. blew away the judges on American Idol to earn the first Platinum ticket of Season 21.
Tyson Venegas, 17, performed Billy Joel’s 1976 song “New York State of Mind” at his audition, which aired Sunday.
“That was amazing,” said Lionel Richie, who asked Venegas to bring his mother into the room. “He’s claiming to be 17 years old but he’s performing like a 45-year-old,” Richie told her.
Iris Samson said Richie had inspired her son “to sing from his heart and tell stories.”
Richie replied: “Well, we’ve flipped the switch now. I inspired him back then. He just inspired us today. Let me tell you, that performance was spot-on professional.”
Katy Perry told Venegas he “sang notes and runs that I haven’t felt in my body in a long time and I felt so connected. I felt alive,” and Luke Bryan said the singer was “exactly what we look for.”
After Venegas left the room with his Platinum ticket – which lets him sit out the first round of “Hollywood Week” competition – Richie said the singer “may be one of our most gifted yet.”
In an Instagram post after the special moment aired, Venegas said “I hit the jackpot! I got the first #PlatinumTicket of the season and I'm heading to Hollywood!”
Venegas, who hails from Port Moody, auditioned in front of the celebrity judges in Las Vegas last September.
It was not his first time in a singing competition. Venegas won the PNE Star Showdown in 2013 when he was only seven years old. A year earlier, he won the BC Junior Talent Contest at the Cloverdale Rodeo.
In 2020, Venegas competed on the Filipino version of The Voice Teens but had to drop out before the “Knockout” rounds due to pandemic travel restrictions.
On his Instagram, Venegas has shared photos with will.i.am and apl.de.ap of Black Eyed Peas, Anderson .Paak and Sarah McLachlan. In a video introduction for a B.C. Children’s Hospital fundraiser in 2020, Michael Bublé described Venegas as “an amazing young man.”
American Idol started allowing Canadians to compete in its 18th season. B.C. singer Lauren Spencer-Smith became the first Canadian to make it to the Top 20 of Idol but she was eliminated in the first viewers-voted round.
In 2021, Ontario’s Heather Russell and Lorand Kis earned golden tickets at their auditions but didn’t make it past Hollywood Week.
And last season, Cameron Whitcomb of Kamloops, B.C., Toronto university student Nicolina Bozzo and Toronto-born Leah Marlene made it into the Top 24. Marlene made it all the way to the Season 20 finale.
Early winners of American Idol found fame and fortune (Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood) – as did several competitors who didn't win (Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Gabby Barrett) – but winners from recent seasons have struggled to breakout.