American Idol awarded its first Golden Ticket to Hollywood during Monday night’s Dancing With the Stars finale on ABC. New judge Lionel Richie was on hand to announce that Britney Holmes, a 28-year-old vocal coach from Texas, is headed to Hollywood.
Richie was joined by all three contestants — Holmes, 18-year-old Maris from Montana, and 21-year-old Dominique Smith from Brooklyn — as he channeled host Ryan Seacrest to make the announcement.
All three hopefuls had already auditioned for the judges, but didn’t make it through. Each judge — Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan — used a save to bring them back for another try in front of America. The auditions aired during commercial breaks on Sunday night’s American Music Awards, with fans given the opportunity to vote through the show’s website.
Holmes was Perry’s pick for another shot — and America sided with that recommendation. How did Richie do for his first live “Idol” duties? Dancing With the Stars host Tom Bergeron gave him a rave review, stating, “You’ve already got that wonderful reality show dramatic pause down!”
American Idol premieres March 11 on ABC.
