Nerves Got the Best of Amber in Hollywood

Hollywood Week can get the best of you — that's the whole point of it right? The pressure cooker environment is made to reflect the tough environment that is the music industry. It inspires American Idol contestants to give it their all, but it also pushes them to their limits and separates the men from the boys — or the future stars from the amateurs. One contestant that was really feeling the pressure on this first day was 16-year-old Amber Kelechi from the Nashville auditions.

Kelechi is one of the younger contestants this season, so it's no surprise that she would be feeling the heat early on. This is her first real chance to live out her dreams while she's still young enough to really be marketable. When I was Kelechi's age my biggest dream was getting my license and I thought it was the end of the world after failing my test twice — so I can only imagine that she is feeling like that multiplied by a thousand.

Despite her nerves, Kelechi took the stage and delivered a killer performance. She didn't just get up there and sing like many of the other favorite artists did, she worked the stage and really performed. Her rendition of "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons was edgy, upbeat, and powerful. I can picture Kelechi performing in Madison Square Garden and absolutely KILLING it. She has that R&B cool girl air about her that gives her extreme star power.

Unfortunately, the judges didn't agree. All three agreed that her original audition was much better than her Hollywood week one. But thankfully for Kelechi, she was in the chosen group of performers that was let through the next round of auditions because her first audition was so strong. Here's hoping she gets herself together and really impress the judges in the next round, because this girl deserves to be in the Top 24.

Check out Kelechi's Nashville audition:

Image: Youtube - American Idol