Luke Bryan Says Francisco Martin Is His Pick to Win ‘American Idol’ (For Now)
American Idol is fresh into a new season, and therefore, still in the auditions portion of the show. But Luke Bryan has already picked his frontrunner: 19-year-old San Francisco Bay Area resident Francisco Martin.
Bryan opened up to People about Martin, admitting that right now, he's his pick to win — but anything could happen.
"Francisco is my frontrunner, but, hey, as America starts voting and the rounds get going, you never know what’s going to happen," the country star says.
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Martin's audition aired on last week's (Feb. 16) premiere episode of the reality singing competition's 18th season. He has a performance that wowed judges Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, but his audition didn't go off without hitch. The contestant was visibly nervous, which caused Bryan and Richie to step in and help calm Martin down before he performed Grammy-nominated singer Maggie Rogers' "Alaska."
"Francisco, just from the second he walked in, he was so nervous. He was literally freaking out on camera. And, you know, I jumped up out of my seat and calmed him down," Bryan recalls. "But what I don’t know is that this kid is about to blow my mind with his performance. I’m just trying to keep him from fainting. So we get out there, loosen him up and then he delivers this amazing audition."
Bryan goes on to say that the "cool" part about American Idol is that the judges and crew on the show want what's best for the contestants to ensure they do not "blow their audition."
Martin is not the first contestant on American Idol that Bryan has got attached to. "I didn’t realize that when I signed up for this that I would lay in bed at night wondering about these kids and praying for their well-being," he admits.
American Idol airs at 8PM ET on ABC.
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