Warwick teen Julia Roome lands coveted audition in front of ‘American Idol’ judges
The 16-year-old singer was among 150 people selected to audition before celebrity judges in Georgia after tens of thousands tried out for the national competition.
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A 16-year-old singer from Warwick is getting another shot at national stardom after landing a coveted audition in front of the celebrity judges on ABC’s “American Idol.”
Julia Roome, a senior at Warwick Valley High School, traveled to Savannah, Georgia, on Oct. 28 to audition before Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.
Roome says she was among just 150 people preselected to audition before the judges out of approximately 55,000 people who tried out for the competition. The opportunity comes nearly three years after she appeared on NBC’s “The Voice” at just 13 years old.
“Ever since The Voice I knew that I definitely wanted to do something like this again, very similar, but I also wanted to go in being myself as an artist, so I decided to show the world and the judges kind of who I am,” Roome told News 12.
This time, she auditioned with an original song called “Find Me,” inspired by a personal medical issue she says will be revealed on the show.
Roome says she has spent the past several years developing her own sound, writing and releasing original music on streaming platforms, including Spotify.
“I would love for people to stream my music. That’s a huge part of who I am. I love writing songs, and so that’s kind of what I went in with on American Idol was an original,” she said.
News 12 first interviewed Roome in December 2021, when the then-11-year-old Warwick sixth grader was preparing to release her first album.
Since then, she has continued performing throughout New York and beyond, including singing the national anthem at Yankee Stadium and booking live musical performances.
She has also been involved in acting and theater since she was 10 years old.
Most recently, Roome played Wednesday Addams in an October production of “The Addams Family” at the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center.
Despite her busy performance schedule, Roome is on track to graduate from Warwick Valley High School this year — a year early.
She says she is continuing to write music, perform at local venues and complete community service hours while pursuing her entertainment career.
She is also proud to represent her hometown, joking that she is putting Orange County on the map — the one in New York, not California.
Roome is keeping the outcome of her audition under wraps for now but teased that viewers can expect something different when the competition returns.
“It’s going to be completely different this year, something that’s never been shown before, so it’s really, really exciting to watch this year and hopefully you see a familiar face!” she said.
The upcoming 25th season of “American Idol” is scheduled to premiere Feb. 8 on ABC.
In the meantime, the rising star hopes to release another original song later this month. She says she is always looking for her next performance.
“I’m also always gigging, so I would love to book more gigs if anyone wants to hire!” she said.
