The final round of tryouts for American Idol season 21 will be broadcast on ABC on March 26 at 8 p.m. ET. The two-hour program will feature many candidates from across the United States attempting to earn a place in the race by demonstrating their vocal abilities. The competition’s winners will receive a platinum pass, while the remainder will go home empty-handed.
Cam Amen, 27, grew up in foster care in Anderson, Indiana, and attended many secondary institutions in Lecanto and Crystal River before auditioning this week. As seen in the network’s test footage, he has a strong resonant voice that appears to have pleased the judges. Judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie can be seen crying in a teaser video after hearing his vocal and dramatic life tale.
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Cam Amen, an American Idol candidate, tears up in front of the judges.
Amen is a Tik-Tok singing artist who has over 3,000 followers and 17,000 favorites. He was removed from his mother and raised in foster care. Cam described his American Idol tryout as “rough” before performing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and playing the sounds on a piano. He went on to say:
“We spent a long time in foster care.” I did move when I was 18 and brought my sibling and sister with me. I realized I needed to educate them properly and see them through high school.”
Amen has been raising his brothers by himself for the past five years. During Cam’s tryout, judge Luke Bryan couldn’t stop crying. Bryan received rousing applause from the three judges and also stated,
“You’ve been through a lot, but the rest of your life is waiting for you, you hear me?”
Cam, actual name Cameron Osterloh, works as a waiter at City Fire in Florida and has a canine called Karma. He uploaded his first YouTube cover video of Parson James’ Waiting Game five years ago. Amen placed second in the Sanford performance challenge, winning $500. He also played at a charity performance for Ukrainian migrants at Lady Lake.
The contestant’s vocal has a broad spectrum. In another interview, he discussed his American Idol tryout, saying,
“I’ve worked so hard over the years just to get myself to sing in front of people, so to know I’m on television singing in front of millions is incredible.”
On his Tik-Tok account, he plays many original tracks as well as some versions, including I Will Always Love You, Lay Me Down, and It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday. Cam’s most popular film is a competition duo of him singing Say Something with his grandma. He disclosed in the video’s commentary that his grandma, who adored the song, died while he was singing it to her.
However, the American Idol video does not disclose whether Cam passed his tryout. Tune in to ABC on Sunday, March 26 at 8 p.m. ET to see if Cam Amen can pass his American Idol tryout and advance to the Hollywood Week round. One day after the broadcast debut, fans can watch the program on Hulu and the network’s website.
