'American Idol' contestant surprises judges by bringing out famous family members to sing their hit song

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25-03-2025

This American Idol contestant gets to hold on for one more day.
Idol hopeful Lola Bonfiglio walked into the audition room on Sunday's new episode determined to show judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan her best. Her dad, Rob Bonfiglio, was also there to accompany her on guitar. "I'm guessing you come from a musical family," Underwood asked and continued to press Bonfiglio on what she intended to perform for them. "First, I've gotta get some family members," she teased.
Bonfiglio returned with Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson, two of the three members of Wilson Phillips. But to her, the famous musicians are just Mom and Aunt Wendy. "Wilson Phillips?!" Underwood exclaimed. "This is so cool," Carnie expressed, adding that the audition would be "a family affair." The Wilsons, Papa Bonfiglio, and Lola — who is also the granddaughter of The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson — then performed a rendition of Wilson Phillips' classic 1992 hit, "Hold On."
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"That was so good," Richie enthused after the quartet finished the song. Carnie beamed with pride at her daughter as Underwood observed, "You can tell that is a thing with family; everybody is genetically designed to just sound good together." Carnie and Wendy agreed that they "love singing with her," and Carnie added, "but we love Lola by herself even more."
Bonfiglio then sang Kacey Musgraves' 2019 song "Rainbow" solo. The judges offered her some feedback, with Richie suggesting, "When you sing the lead, hold the story out longer. It could have been the nerves, but you were getting to the end and just cutting it off." Bryan noted, "The tone and pureness, and the quality of your voice, that's the perfect song for you. But this competition is going to require you to belt too, and let loose a little bit, filling up the room a little more."
"If I'm on this show I'm going to push myself, that's why I want to be on American Idol. I want to grow," Bonfiglio said in her defense, but she hardly needed one. A unanimous round of yeses earned Bonfiglio a ticket to Hollywood."When she was in the womb, I was playing Frank Sinatra with the little headphones, putting it up to my belly going, 'This kid going to be musical, whether she likes it or not,'" Carnie joked later that day in an interview on Entertainment Tonight. Wilson said she thought Lola's idea to audition for Idol was "perfect," because the show "profiles a lot of different styles," and though "Lola is not this big Broadway-type singer, but she's got something so honest and pure and lovely."
Next week's episode will wrap Idol's audition round, meaning viewers will get to catch up with Bonfiglio during Hollywood week in April.
Related: Watch Kelly Clarkson rock out to 'Hold On' with Wilson Phillips
Bonfiglio wasn't the only nepo baby to try her luck at Idol auditions this season. The judges were also asked to evaluate a rendition of the original song "Waiting on Myself to Die," written by a contestant named Baylee Littrell. "There's something about you that looks familiar," Underwood suspected before Littrell had even begun his audition, prompting him to pull in his famous dad, Backstreet Boysmember Brian Littrell. The Backstreet Boy's boy advanced on to Hollywood, just like Bonfiglio.
Littrell and Bonfiglio join the ranks of dozens of other kids and grandkids of famous artists who've passed through the ranks at Idol, including Jim Carrey's daughter Jane (season 11), Jo Dee Messina's cousin Alex Preston (season 13), and Aretha Franklin's granddaughter Grace (season 20).
American Idol season 23 airs every Sunday at 8 p.m. PT/ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly