TV singing competition shows have been around for so many years, it’s inevitable that some of today’s pop stars would have tried out for some of them. Take Chappell Roan, for example: She failed auditions for both The Voice and America’s Got Talent.
Chappell covers W magazine’s new Pop Issue, on stands May 13, and she recalls in her cover story trying out for America’s Got Talent at age 13. “We flew to Austin, Texas, and waited in line with thousands of people at 4 a.m.,” she tells the mag. “I sang ‘True Colors,’ by Cyndi Lauper. Did not make it.”
For The Voice, Chappell says, “I was 15 and I sang ‘Stay,’ by Rihanna. … [T]he producer or whoever the f*** was watching did not even look up from his phone. He was like, ‘Okay, next.’ And I went up there and sang a cappella, the scariest thing ever. He never really looked at me.”
Of course, Chappell had the last laugh. She’s now a global superstar with a Grammy for best new artist. By the way, some other now-famous singers who failed auditions for singing competition shows include Bebe Rexha, Maren Morris, Halsey and Colbie Caillat.
Elsewhere in the interview, Chappell reveals that the song that makes her cry is Bonnie Raitt‘s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” that her pet peeve is name-dropping and that her first kiss came at age 15 in her parents’ driveway.
“I made the move,” she says of that smooch. “I usually make the first move! We had been seeing each other, going on dates every weekend for a month, and I was like, it’s time to kiss. It was fun. But I would say that kissing girls is funner.”
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