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Utahn Kenzie Hall hopes to go far on ‘American Idol’

Posted at 10:48 PM, Jan 29, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-14 18:23:31-05

SALT LAKE CITY -- FOX 13 News was there during American Idol’s Salt Lake City auditions back in the summer of 2013 and was told they nearly ran out of golden tickets because the talent was that good here.

One rising star from Draper who is Hollywood bound is Kenzie Hall.

Kenzie, 17, has been performing for only the past year but singing most of her life.

“A lot of it was my mom,” Hall said. “I have to blame her and thank her for a lot of it. She just wanted me to take as many opportunities as I could.”

With no vocal coaching, she snagged a golden ticket at her first “American Idol” audition. Kenzie said she can barely remember the moment.

She said: “Thinking back on it I can't remember what happened. Is that bad?"

Kenzie said she never thought she would try out for the show.

“Being honest, I  heard “American Idol” was coming to town and I always told myself, 'I don’t want to have my career started from a TV show,'” she said. “I always said that I wanted to make it on my own.”

But, thanks to her mom, Kenzie decided to take a different route.

“Around I think six in the morning, she came in and said, ‘I have an outfit for you, wake up, and get in the car, bring your guitar’ and I was like, ‘What’s happening?’ and little did I know she was driving me straight to the “American Idol” auditions,” she said.

You wouldn’t guess hearing her sing, but Kenzie said she’s a serious introvert and suffers from social anxiety.

“I’m not what people usually expect to be - the teenage partier,” she said. “I’m not. I’m the opposite of it.”

Though new people and places can be a challenge, she doesn’t think it’ll hurt her in this season’s competition.

“When I’m on stage and I have my guitar all of the anxiety goes away and that’s where I’m most confident and most comfortable,” she said.

For the self-described “stubborn nerd,” the reality TV show is another opportunity, and one Kenzie hopes will open new doors.

“I don’t have a goal to win, that’s not my goal and that sounds awful to say, but winning is not my goal,” she said. “My goal is to make it as far as I can and be happy with my performances and be happy with myself for how it went.”