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'American Idol' contestant with severe stutter leaves judge Carrie Underwood in awe over 'beautiful' approach
By Christina Dugan Ramirez
Published January 25, 2026
A new season of "American Idol" is upon us and the talent just keeps getting better and better.
In an extended sneak peek of the upcoming season, Jesse Findling — a 20-year-old college student with a severe stutter — left judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan in awe after giving a "beautiful" performance despite the debilitating condition that has left him feeling embarrassed at times.
"I've been singing ever since I was little with my brother and sister," Findling told the judges. "We would pull up karaoke tracks, and we would just sing with each other, and since then I did choirs in school. If you haven't noticed, I have a stutter and that's really where kind of my love for singing came."
"I've had a stutter ever since I was little," Findling said during his confessional. "It's something that I've struggled with since elementary school. It was something embarrassing for me, and it was something that I really had a hard time with. I wouldn't raise my hand in school, and it was just something that made me feel alone and something that I felt like I had to hide. So it was definitely hard."
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"American Idol" contestant with a severe stutter shocks the judges with a "beautiful" performance. (American Idol YouTube)
Findling said that singing has always "felt freeing" to him because his stutter disappears.
"When I sang, it was a way for me to express myself in a way where I didn't have to worry about being embarrassed or what people would think, or if somebody would laugh," he said. "It was an outlet for me when I was little, and it's still an outlet for me now."
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"Walking out with a golden ticket would mean that everything that I've struggled with in the past, it's all led me here, and I can do whatever I want if I work hard," he added.
Before going into his own rendition of Bensen Boone's "In The Stars," he told the judges, "I've come a long way with it, and it doesn't hold me back."
Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan were left in shock after the emotional performance. (Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images)
During his performance, all three judges were visibly shocked at his approach.
"I don't think I blinked one time," Bryan said after the audition. "I mean, wow. You're a real singer. Thank you, man. I'm really proud of you. I love this show. I love this show because we get to meet kids like you."
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"Your voice is beautiful," Underwood added. "You have a beautiful vibrato, a beautiful tone. We could understand everything you were singing, and you were in the song emotionally, which just took us right there with you, so it was beautiful."
"Problem. What problem?" Richie asked. "You don't have a problem. The only thing wrong with you is you've got to figure out how you're going to navigate this career."
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Findling, 19, grew up with a severe stutter. (Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images)
Before sending Findling through to Hollywood, she told him, "I think you could go really far in this competition. We just haven't had voices like yours coming through those doors."
While holding his Golden Ticket, Findling told the camera that he's proud of the progress he's made.
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"When I was singing that song, I was thinking of younger me who wouldn't speak in class, who was scared of what people thought of him and the fact that I got this is just proof that everything's working out how it should," he said.
"American Idol" returns Monday, January 26, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/american-idol-contestant-severe-stutter-leaves-judge-carrie-underwood-awe-over-beautiful-approach