Credit: Photo by Lexie Puru
Update: Last night, local singer-songwriter Madeline Finn’s run on American Idol came to an end. Along with a group of other musicians, the talented Finn was cut from the show.

In the episode, she cries and hugs judge Katy Perry. “You have to come out on the other side, like I’ve done since I was a kid,” she says during the program.

Original Post: American Idol— your favorite show to watch in middle school— returned earlier this month on ABC and a contestant from Cleveland is headed to Hollywood.

While her audition was not aired during the episode, Madeline Finn announced on social media that she was, in fact, given a golden ticket and is moving on to the next round of the competition. Finn auditioned for the show in Nashville singing an original song called “Seasons,” off an EP from her band, The Whiskey Hollow.

Finn has made a name for herself in the Cleveland music scene. In addition to her role as lead singer of The Whiskey Hollow, she also serves as a vocal coach and offers songwriting and production assistance to local artists, according to her website. 

As she moves forward on the revamped American Idol, which features Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan as judges, Finn told Cleveland.com that she hopes to capitalize on her time on the show by utilizing the increased exposure to her and her band’s advantage.

“The plan is to keep moving forward and keep doing whatever I can every day to make sure that the band is succeeding,” Finn said. “I don’t see it slowing down any time in the future, but who knows.”

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This article appears in Mar 21-27, 2018.