Kansas singer follows her father, makes the cut for ‘American Idol.’ Watch her audition

Andover Central High School student McKayla Stacey’s journey with American Idol has just begun after advancing in her preliminary audition in an episode that aired Sunday.

McKayla was “born into American Idol,” she said during Sunday’s episode. Her father, Phil Stacey, missed her birth because he was auditioning for season six of the show. He got sixth place that season.

In Sunday’s episode, Phil reminisced with host Ryan Seacrest and even past judge Paula Abdul, who virtually called McKayla and Phil before her audition.

McKayla sang “She Used to be Mine” by Sara Bareilles, gaining two yes votes from judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

“I still love you, Luke Bryan,” McKayla joked on a Facebook post yesterday, announcing her positive audition results.

The audition was held in October in New Orleans. McKayla had to keep the results a secret until Sunday’s episode, however.

In an interview with the Eagle last week, McKayla said no matter how her journey with American Idol goes, she wants to pursue music full time in the future.

“I think I have a deep passion for music and I think that no matter what happens with American Idol, I want to go on and somehow make a career out of it, whether that’s live performing, studio singing or even just teaching. Like I just love music, so the goal is to really just be able to do it for a living,” she said.

American Idol airs every Sunday at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time on ABC. The episodes can be streamed the next day on Hulu.