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Opelousas native shares her story behind her American Idol golden ticket

Posted at 10:24 PM, Mar 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-22 23:24:41-04

An Opelousas native is on her way to Hollywood on American Idol, and she says she owes it all to the song she sang about her life.

Emily Ortego is speaking about her American Idol experience, saying the song she sang to get her golden ticket is what she would call the soundtrack of her life.

“It explains a lot of things I don’t talk about a whole lot. Just with how I want to connect with who I’m genetically related to and how I want to find that harmony in my life,” Ortego said.

She co-authored the original song with Kevin Montgomery and Barry Ancelet, two people she says have impacted her life.

“I was so nervous, like, I was nervous tenfold. There’s not a feeling that can compare to that kind of pressure,” Ortego said.

She saw beyond the pressure and says she put her heart into her audition, gaining her ticket to Hollywood. No matter what happens in the competition, she says there are a few things she wants people to take away from her music.

“My music is genuine. For the ones who are lost and don’t know where they want to go, for the ones that are heartbroken and feel secluded and don’t really feel like they have a place,  I want them to find some peace and unity in my music,” Ortego explained.

You can watch American Idol Saturday night at 7 p.m. on KATC.