Kaleo Knight sang to the judges that they would love her, and they did just that.

Windward junior Kaleo Knight sang a beautiful rendition of Dreamgirls song “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” to American Idol judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan. Her full audition aired on March 30, where she received a standing ovation followed by unanimous yeses from all three judges.

“You’re going to Hollywood!”

Kaleo received glowing reviews from the judges. In reference to the repeated lyrics “you’re gonna love me” in the song, Lionel Richie said, “So I have the answer to that. We love you. I mean that was crazy good.”

Luke Bryan added, “Probably the best sixteen-year-old voice we’ve heard in this competition.”

Kaleo went through the first round of auditions for the show back in December. Reflecting on the process of deciding to audition for the show, Kaleo admitted that it was an unplanned last-minute decision.

“It’s just like a heat of the moment, quick decision.” Once she had decided, the long audition process began.

“I did three auditions for three different sets of producers, all in one day, singing two songs back to back,” Kaleo said. According to Knight, what’s shown on TV is not the whole story. “Thousands upon thousands of people audition for these shows, and get eliminated before anything is even shown.”

On the day of her big audition recording, Kaleo felt overwhelmed walking into the room and seeing the judges behind the table.

“I felt like I was floating. It did not feel real. Nothing about that felt real. It was literally all just a fever dream.”

How did Kaleo juggle American Idol on top of junior year, which is notoriously the most academically rigorous year of school?

“This year, doing Idol has been extremely difficult because when I went back to film Hollywood week, I was gone for a week and a half.” Kaleo continued, “The LA fires were the week before, so that’s missing two and a half weeks of school which is a very significant amount especially coming off of a break.”

Kaleo said that the Windward community helped her throughout the process, which allowed her to balance the show with her academics.

“Windward has just been very supportive. A lot of my teachers have been super understanding and have let me take my time with assignments.” On top of that, Kaleo said that Windward administrators have been understanding and excited to see her go on the journey.

Kaleo had watched American Idol most of her life, but the actual experience of being on the show was different than she ever imagined.

“People say that a lot of the main competition shows are really cut-throat,” Kaleo said. “I kind of expected it to be more competitive than it actually was.”

For Kaleo, the biggest surprise from the experience was the encouraging environment and the friends she’s made. “Everybody was so kind and so supportive. I met so many cool people that are going very far in this competition.” Kaleo even views these friends like family because of the extensive time they spent together and the show’s bonding experiences.

Kaleo has received tremendous social media and celebrity recognition from her audition release.

Her audition received almost fifteen thousand likes (as of the time of this article) on Instagram. On TikTok as well, her audition garnered just over thirteen thousand likes and almost a quarter of a million views.

On top of her social media fame, celebrities have reached out to Kaleo and reposted her audition. Actress and Grammy award winning comedian Tiffany Haddish reposted Kaleo’s early release audition, writing that she’s so proud of Kaleo and remembers meeting her ten years ago.

Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton commented on Kaleo’s Instagram post. “She’s gorgeous! And really brought herself into that song! Made it feel special! Great voice! Great energy! She shines!”

Additionally, British singer Rita Ora liked her video and R&B singer Montell Jordan commented “Great job!”

“Probably the best sixteen-year-old voice we’ve heard in this competition.”

A Wonderful Learning Experience

Being one of the youngest contestants on the show, Kaleo was definitely nervous during her many rounds of auditions and filming. “I could definitely feel the lack of experience that I had in comparison to other people.”

But despite her nerves, Kaleo seemed relaxed and confident in her audition.

“I learned that in performing (and pretty much anything you do) confidence is key because even if you don’t feel confident, if you can act confident, it’ll get you really far.”

After the judges gave Kaleo her golden ticket, host Ryan Seacrest sent her parents into the judging room to join the celebration, which was marked with shrieks of joy. Lauren Kawasaki-Knight, Kaleo’s mother, reflects on Kaleo’s American Idol experience: “For us as parents, we want her to have as many opportunities to experience what other artists are doing and what music is to her, so she can find who she is in the world.”

So, what’s next in Kaleo’s music career?

Although Kaleo did not advance to the top 24, her music career is only just beginning.

“I’m working on a new project, and there’s going to be a song coming soon.”

Kaleo already has two singles out on all music streaming platforms: Piano and Running Cold (with Windward junior Aidan Rutman). Kaleo and Aidan performed their original piece at spring coffeehouse last year.

The Windward community cannot wait to see what Kaleo will do next with her tremendous talent. In Lionel Richie’s words, “blow them away,” Kaleo!