American Idol contestant Emyrson Flora talks about music and Hollywood

Emyrson Flora is among the contestants on “American Idol.”

This week American Idol contestant Emyrson Flora will be singing not just for the judges and a national audience.

For the first time since the competition began, the Walsh Jesuit junior will be singing on “American Idol” before her family too.

More about Emyrson Flora:Five things you may or may not know about ‘American Idol’ contestant Emyrson Flora

Both her parents, Autumn and Chris, along with her brother Pierce, 14, who she readily admits is “so over” her national spotlight, will all be in the audience for the first time.

The only thing that would make Sunday’s show is even more perfect would be if her goldendoodle, Winston, was able to make the trip from Reminderville to Hollywood too.

“I miss him so much,” she said with a laugh.

Walsh Jesuit junior Emyrson Flora performed Sunday night on "American Idol" after she learned she had made the Top 20.

Life on ‘American Idol’

Surprisingly, she admits she has not had too much time to get homesick. The show keeps her pretty busy; she also has to keep up with her classes back home and meets regularly with a tutor.

Flora had a rare day off on Friday when she took time to chat with the Beacon Journal.

Since she’s the youngest contestant left on the show, at just 16 years old, it also means by California law she must not only work with a tutor to keep up on her studies but also have time off from show prep.

Self-taught singer on ‘American Idol’

Every day on the show is like a master’s class on singing and performing.

And she’s learning on the fly.

Flora said unlike many of the other contestants who either performed in a band or had formal training, she is just starting from scratch.

She said she’s been singing for as long as she can remember — a lot of Taylor Swift — much to the annoyance of her family at times, but never took it too seriously.

Her only semiformal lessons came during the height of the pandemic when she enrolled in some School of Rock virtual courses for fun.

She never sang at her high school — aside from videos taken on her phone and shared with friends — and just signed up to take choir for the first time next term, in the fall of her senior year at the private Catholic high school in Cuyahoga Falls.

“Music has always been a part of my life since I was super young,” she said. “It was just something I kept to myself.”

But something struck a chord, she said, and she decided to get out of her comfort zone and convinced her parents to make the trek to Nashville.

And ever since, her so-called “raw talent” has wowed celebrity judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, who have lauded performance after performance and awarded her passes to the next rounds.

Last week it was America’s voters who tapped her to be in the Top 10 to make it to this week’s round.

But Flora said she can’t rest on her past performances and has to work hard to not only convince the judges but also viewers that she could be the next American Idol.

Performing at home as a little girl

She laughs now that this little girl who plucked away at a ukulele — hitting mostly wrong chords, she adds — before her parents in the family living room is now performing before the whole nation watching TV in their living rooms.

“It’s hard to take a minute and be like, ‘This is my life now,’ ” she said. “This is all really happening.”

And the live shows are like a blur.

One minute you get the good news that you survived.

The next moment you are alone on stage singing for your life.

“It’s like you have four seconds to start singing,” she said. “It’s crazy.”

Flora said her musical tastes lean toward pop and soul, but she’s really open to listen and learn from the judges’ song selections and the mentoring from pros in the music business.

“I’m kind of all over the place,” she said, when it comes to music. “If I like a song. I like it and sing it.”

The show airs Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC and Hulu.

There are just 14 contestants left, with more cuts coming this week.

Craig Webb, who is a Harry Chapin kind of music guy, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com.

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