3/27 UPDATE: Liv Annalise announced she did not make it past the first round in Hollywood, but thanked her many supporters.
Richmond Hill's Liv Annalise was one of 170 performers chosen to go to Hollywood on "American Idol" to compete in the next round of the show.
Although Annalise's Savannah audition in front of the celebrity judges was not shown on television over the last few weeks, she was able to announce Sunday night that she received a "golden ticket" to move on in the competition.
The audition rounds, which ended Sunday nighter after five two-hour shows on WJCL, only showed a portion of those who were selected to advance.
"I've got some flights booked and some competition ahead of me," Annalise told the Bryan County News Sunday night.
After a first audition in August and a second in New Orleans the day before she turned 17, Annalise had her final audition in Savannah in front of Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.
“They are all such great musicians and singers, I definitely had some butterflies,” she said. “They gave me some great constructive criticism.”
For the final audition, Annalise played acoustic guitar and sang two songs, “Zombie” by The Cranberries and Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill.”
“It was neat because ‘Zombie’ is the first song I ever learned to play on the guitar,” she said.
The show continues Monday night on WJCL.
"It's super cool because we all have different backgrounds, but we're chasing the same dream," Annalise said of her fellow competitors.
The aspiring musician first played viola in middle school.
“Our whole family is crazy about music,” she said. “My parents have videos of me when I was little singing karaoke.”
After her military family moved to Richmond Hill two years ago, Annalise enrolled in an online public school called Connections Academy.
“It gives me a lot of flexibility as far as rehearsing and performing,” she said. “If I know I have a gig at night, I can get everything done early.”
Annalise plays most Thursday nights and some Saturday nights at Molly MacPherson’s, as well as once a month at Fia Rua and at various locations in Pooler and Savannah. She also performed at last year’s Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival. Her performances run the gamut, from Bill Withers to Sublime to Britney Spears.
As for what the future holds, the high school junior is open to possibilities.
“I know I’ll always be a musician,” she said. “I’ve thought about becoming a teacher because I love kids, but if this music thing takes off, you never know.”
You can see Annalise perform April 21 at J.F. Gregory Park as part of the Richmond Hill Fire Department's "Spring Fling" which runs from noon to 2 p.m. The event raises money for the department's Operation Presents Under the Tree, which provides Christmas presents to children from families in need.
