For the most part, 19-year-old Abby LeBaron has kept her passion for singing to herself.
Growing up, her big performances included the Utah Valley Children’s Choir (where she had just one solo), a high school jazz band concert and her senior prom.
“I regret not sharing it as much as I could have,” LeBaron, who is from Springville, recently told the Deseret News. “(But in high school), nothing is off limits to joke about, so you kind of have to learn how to let stuff roll off your back sometimes. Singing was one thing that I couldn’t handle jokes about because that was something that was really important to me. … I just didn’t want to feel uncomfortable about that, so I didn’t really share it that much.”
Until now.
On Sunday, LeBaron had a successful debut on national television.
Millions of viewers heard LeBaron audition for “American Idol,” ultimately getting a “yes” from the show’s three judges — a monumental moment for the budding artist, both personally and professionally.
During her audition, LeBaron told judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie that she’s always been somewhat shy when it comes to singing for others — even though she has a job in marketing/social media, LeBaron doesn’t really have a strong social media following of her own.
“I didn’t want to come off as showing off,” she said.
“We are in the show-off business,” Richie said, which then prompted Bryan to unexpectedly break out into song, performing “I’m a Bad, Bad Man” from the musical “Annie Get Your Gun.”
“Even if I didn’t get the lyrics right, I showed off,” Bryan said.
And then it was LeBaron’s turn to show off.
She walked to the piano, sat down, took a breath and sang Kodaline’s “All I Want.” All three judges applauded after her performance.
“You’ve got the talent,” Perry said. “You need to work on believing in yourself.”
“Abby, when you started, I had chill bumps everywhere,” Bryan said, adding that he did notice some vocal missteps about three-quarters into the song. “When you go to sit down from here on out, you need to have about two things you tell yourself to relax a little.”
Then LeBaron received the news that she would be advancing to Hollywood week, which airs beginning March 21. So far this season, LeBaron is the third singer from Utah to advance to Hollywood week. Ammon and Liahona Olayan, a brother-sister duo from Vineyard, impressed “Idol” judges during the second week of auditions that aired last month, according to the Deseret News.
For LeBaron, going on “American Idol” is a big step in gaining more confidence. Since her audition, which was filmed a few months ago, the singer has been building her social media presence — and getting used to the idea that millions of people will know her name.
“I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” LeBaron previously told the Deseret News. “I don’t know what I was thinking that somehow this is better to sing on national television the first time I do anything big. But it happened, and it was great.”