LYNN — Eighteen-year-old St. Mary’s senior Amanda Mena is taking another step in her already successful music career this weekend, when her American Idol performance will be broadcast in front of millions of viewers.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how I’ll be received by the audience,” said Mena. “I hope that my performance reaches many people and that I can grow as an artist through it.”
For the audition, Mena performed in front of a panel of celebrity musicians: Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.
“It felt really cool,” said Mena, about performing in front of the music legends. “It was great to be able to share my talents with these celebrities that have years ahead of me and that know all about the music world. It’s exciting to think about all the things I could learn from them.”
Born in Salem, Mena moved to the Dominican Republic as a baby. She lived there for four years before returning to settle with her family in Lynn. She graduated from Cobbet Elementary School, attended Breed Middle School for one year, and then enrolled at St. Mary’s.
Mena first garnered international attention when she won a Spanish-language singing competition, La Voz Kids, in Miami, Fla., in 2014 at just 11 years old.
At age 15, she competed in America’s Got Talent, where she was eliminated in the semifinals.
Later, she sang “I Feel the Earth Move” in the Carole King musical, “Beautiful” on Broadway, and earned an invitation from producer Kenny Ortega to perform a tribute to the late Aretha Franklin at the 33rd annual Imagen Foundation Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
She has released her first two singles and a music video, “Dime Como,” which have been enthusiastically received by her 116,000 followers on Instagram and Facebook.
“Music has really always been a part of me. From a very young age it was always an escape and a way of expressing my innermost feelings,” said Mena. “When I’m on stage I become a bigger version of myself that can reach people and I love that feeling.”
Mena works in a variety of genres, saying that she is “very open-minded” when it comes to choosing her musical repertoire, though her favorite genres to sing are R&B and Latin pop.
American Idol is returning this year for it’s 19th season — its fourth on ABC. The show was originally broadcast on FOX in 2002 and quickly gained huge popularity, sparking the careers of several famous artists including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jordin Sparks.
During its third season on ABC, American Idol was Sunday’s No. 1 broadcast show among adults 18-49. The series was also the most social TV series on the broadcast networks last season with 27.1 million total social interactions.
Mena’s American Idol audition will air Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC.
