Her name is Kenedi Anderson and she’s a 17-year-old high school student from Crozet, Virginia. “She was born to be a star,” said judge Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan chimed in, “I truly believe that your musical journey for the rest of your life just started right here, right now.” Then Lionel Richie added, “Hallelujah! You don’t understand. We can sit here all day and sing songs. What we’re looking for is the next thing. You’ll have graced us because of your voice, your look, your sound. If that’s 17 years old, congratulations. You are the answer to our prayers.” What makes the platinum ticket special is only three are being given out this season and it gives the artist a day off in Hollywood to sit in the audience and watch the competition, figure out a strategy to win, and to also select their duet partner. It definitely gives them a distinct advantage. Although she lives in Crozet now, Kenedi didn’t grow up there. The family—six children, she’s the second oldest— moved around a lot because of her father’s job in the football industry. Kenedi did not reveal her parents’ identities despite being active on social media, but we have since learned that her father is Justin Anderson, a professional college football coach and former player. “I was never in one place for a very long time,” Kenedi said. “I have been basically moving my whole life. It’s so hard starting over and readjusting to new places. It’s tough sometimes and it can get lonely. Having a big family has helped me a lot. We are already pretty close, and we have been through a lot together.” The other thing that helped Kenedi get through the lonely times was music. “Everyone in my family is athletic and I’m the musical one,” she added. “Music really is my therapy. Whenever I’m frustrated, whenever I’m feeling down, music is the one thing that has stuck with me, no matter what. I’m happy where I am now, and I’m thankful for all the experiences that led me to this point. I feel that there’s no better time in my life right now to audition for American Idol.” Kenedi, who released her first original song in December 2020, has acquired quite the following on Tik Tok. She has 15.6K followers and several of her videos have more than 150K views. And despite the social media following, she says that winning the platinum ticket gave her the boost of confidence she needed. “This is insane to me,” she said. “It gives me so much confidence. I would be so grateful to get a gold ticket, but the fact that I got a platinum ticket is unbelievable to me.” American Idol airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Next,American Idol 2022! Everything You Need to Know, Including the Two New Mentors and the Two Big Changes!
