Claudia Conway reframes her narrative: she uses her own voice to navigate the difficult waters of online infamy.
The first official presentation of the troubled “American Idol” contest by the troubled teenager TikTok came with his own one-woman animation team: his mother, the former Trump administration spokesman, Kellyanne Conway.
Claudia seemed to have taken the previous advice of Judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie to silence all the “negativity that surrounded her” so she could focus on her vocal potential, and what she he wanted to get out of his suddenly high-profile existence.
The newly 16-year-old curly-haired girl told viewers on Sunday that she considers it “the most important thing in the world” to establish her own identity, through music. With her proud mother cheering her on, she proceeded to celebrate a passionate rendition of “River” by Bishop Briggs during her performance of the gender challenge for Hollywood Week.
The trio of judges passed her and passed Claudia to the next round while her mother went slow-burning ham like any other proud, crazy father in the audience.
The revealing performance of the New Jersey high school student came after ABC was reported to be in “crisis mode” in front of the high-profile TikTok teenager who attracted the attention of other contestants . Rumors circulated after her initial appearance was called exploitation because she appeared to capitalize on her serious struggles with 54-year-old mother Kellyanne, which included a police investigation after a nude photo of her daughter was posted on the networks. social in January.
However, the famous social media star reached the second round after a hard audition in February, in which she wore a sparse fringe and made a hesitant rendition of Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain”. Judge Katy Perry quickly interrupted Conway’s first test, telling him to slip off his shiny stilettos and try a different tune.
“You have to calm the storm around you,” Perry warned him at the time, “because if you sing like you want to read social media comments afterwards, you’ll just be a TikTok star.”
Claudia redeemed herself with a rendition of Adele’s “When We Were Young,” which moved her proud father, anti-Trump lawyer George Conway, 57, to tears as she listened right in front of the room. of auditions. “He loves music,” he said, choking in February. “It makes me happy to see her here doing this.”
But it was Mama who introduced herself to her daughter in Sunday’s episode, offering unwanted singing tips (“that was a bit flat”) that Claudia politely dismissed with a series of eye rolls before the her mother suffocated her in celebratory hugs after the performance.
Kellyanne, who reportedly has a multimillion-dollar book deal, went so far as to snatch some bars from Alicia Keys ’2012 anthem“ Girl on Fire ”to cheer on her little girl.
