PARK CITY, Utah -- It was another intense and competitive night of “American Idol” Hollywood Week. The contestants' fate hung on group performances, and with Hollywood Week half over, some of Utah's contestants are still in it.
Austin Wolfe's family and friends were glued to the TV during Thursday night's episode. Her group performance wasn't featured, but the judges have put Austin through to the next round. Austin can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing the hard work that went into that performance paid off.
"We got our groups together at like 11 at night, started practicing and didn't finally pick our song until 1 in the morning and kept practicing until like 4:30 in the morning and our roll call was at 5:30," she said.
With even more cuts in Thursday's episode and more to come before Hollywood Week is over, Austin said pressure is mounting, and tensions are high.
"The smaller and smaller the groups get, the higher and higher the intensity gets, and the more you can hear people singing and really listen to their voices and I think once the groups got smaller it's just kind of a wake up call that everyone here is here for a reason and everyone can obviously sing,” she said. “It all comes down to who can sing better."
Austin's singing is - of course - considered the best to her family and friends who she said have been her rock through the process. Austin's mom Anita said they support Austin.
"I know it's a really special thing, and she has a gift and we want to nurture it and develop it but we also don't want her to lose touch with what it's like to be a teenager and to have this amazing network of friends," she said.
When asked what it's like to see Austin on-screen, her friend Sierra Deimling said: "Every time it's either screaming or clapping or tears. It’s one of the three but always happy."
For now, this Park City 17-year-old singer/songwriter will sing another day on the show.
"Every round I made it past was just a complete feeling of relief because they're asking so much of you, they're requiring certain things of you, and when you finally meet those goals and make it and they approve of you and pass you on to the next round it's the best feeling,” she said.
