American Idol Audition Sends Dallas Resident To Hollywood: WATCH

PAULDING COUNTY, GA — A March 18 “American Idol” audition will be sending an 18-year-old South Paulding High School graduate to Hollywood. Country singer Caleb Lee Hutchinson, from Dallas in Paulding County, sang the bluegrass band the Steeldrivers’ “If It Hadn’t Been For Love,” impressing the judges so much, they punched his ticket to Hollywood.

"Your voice is well above your age," Judge Lionel Richie tells Hutchinson after his audition. "I smile when you sing. Your voice is very strong, very powerful."

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Katy Perry told Hutchinson, "I think you have a very lovely voice, a really nice, vast verbrado that is unusual in a male voice, so the texture of your voice feels a little bit unique. You seem really comfortable, that's really hard to find and it feels like you're very centered. Which is also really hard to find. So congratulations on being a good human being."

Hutchinson called judge Luke Bryan one of his own signing heroes, doing a brief imitation of Bryan's radio callout for 94.9/The Bull.

You've got a big, big voice," Bryan said. Just overdo that verbrado, he warned.

The judges' decision to send Hutchinson to Hollywood was unanimous.

Photo and video courtesy YouTube