'American Idol' Contestant, Local Student Goes To Hollywood

SANDY SPRINGS, GA — North Springs Charter High School student Victoria McQueen auditioned on "American Idol" last week and earned her golden ticket to Hollywood. Tonight, Victoria will be among the hopeful and talented contestants who will perform as part of the series' Hollywood Week installment. "American Idol" airs at 8 p.m. March 26 on ABC.

McQueen wowed celebrity judges Luke Bryan, Katie Perry and Lionel Richie with her "pitch perfect" a cappella singing of Stevie Wonder's, "Don't You Worry Bout a Thing" and her bright and bubbly personality. McQueen is the youngest American Idol contestant this season — she was born on June 11, 2002, the same day the first show of the first season aired on television, North Springs Charter High School said.

Victoria, a 10th-grader who has been singing "since I was three, practically my whole life," gets up at 4:45 a.m. during the week to catch the bus to North Springs so she can be part of the school's visual and performing arts magnet program. Last year as a freshman, she had one of the female leads in the school's musical, "Sister Act."

This year she had hoped to audition for this year's school musical, "Into the Woods," which opened March 15. But preparing for her 'Idol' audition and maintaining her school work did not leave her enough time for the show (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here).

On a typical day, after she gets home from school around 5:30 p.m., she tries to practice for one to two hours and do her homework. Her "catch up Saturdays" begin with a vocal aerobics class and continue with choir practice for her church and afternoon vocal practice at Tara Simons Studios.

"My whole family is very musical," Victoria said. "My grandmother sang in night clubs and my mom went to college for singing; she is my vocal coach."

It was her father who saw the poster about announcing "American Idol" auditions last summer and took her to the try-outs.

"We got up at 4 a.m. so we could be in line by 5 a.m., even though the line didn't open until nine," Victoria said. By 11 am, she was singing a cappella outdoors in the hot sun in front of three producers for the show.

That was followed by an audition video, getting a call back to come to New Orleans for more rounds of auditions before finally being selected to audition before the celebrity judges, which she did in Nashville. That successful audition was broadcast Monday, March 19, and Victoria and her family celebrated at a viewing party held at Hudson Grille.

Be sure to tune in to your local ABC channel tonight to catch the North Springs student and other contestants woo the hearts of judges with their vocal and musical talents.

Image via North Springs Charter High School