This story courtesy EastIdahoNews.com. It is used here with permission – 

IDAHO FALLS — Paige Anne, a 16-year-old Idaho Falls High School student, recently took a huge step toward becoming a professional singer. The next episode of “American Idol” will share Anne’s big moment with the rest of the world.

Anne’s audition will be included in the Sunday, March 19, episode of “Idol.” The Zone Sports Grill will host a watch party featuring a performance by Anne and the band Almost Famous to celebrate.

Anne said her “Idol” audition brings her a little bit closer to achieving the dream she’s been working toward since she was a young child.

“I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember and I started performing in things around town when I was about eight years old,” Anne told EastIdahoNews.com. “It’s just grown from there.”

Anne’s love of singing is rooted in the way music moves people and allows her to connect with them.

“Music, in general, speaks to people differently,” she said. “It touches a different part of your brain and I take my music as a way I can communicate with people. I’ve never been good at public speaking but if you ask me to sing, I can do that pretty easily. I just love making that connection with people and maybe, hopefully, spreading a message.”

A fan of “Idol” growing up, Anne came to see the show as a way to help her reach out to a huge number of people and share her musical abilities.

“It’s always been my dream to do something like ‘American Idol,’” she said. “I always watched ‘American Idol’ growing up and one of my favorite (‘Idol’ contestants) was David Archuleta. So I’m watching him take his journey at a similar age as me and it was really inspirational to think that maybe someday I could achieve something as cool as that.”

Auditioning for “Idol” turned out to be a bit different than Anne was expecting.

“It takes a few days to actually film (an audition) and those days are just a lot of hard work,” she said. “I was waking up at 5:30 in the morning and I’d stop working at like 10 at night. I would be doing interviews or I was waiting in the holding room for my next interview or to be pulled for the judges.”

Speaking of the judges, Anne auditioned in front of an all-star panel of Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

“I was all confident in my interviews and I’ve never been scared to perform,” she said. “But as soon as those doors opened and I walked in, I was a deer in headlights. I was absolutely terrified. It was like everything I’ve ever learned in eight years of doing music went out the doors.”

“I can sing in front of thousands of people, no problem,” she added. “But when it’s more of an intimate setting … I mean, there were three judges sitting in front of me that are of high status. They know so much about the music industry and they’re doing what I want to do when I’m older. It’s extremely intimidating. But I did it.”

Fortunately, Anne did have one big thing going in her favor. Her mother made the trip to the audition with her and served as a valuable source of support.

“My mom’s been my biggest supporter,” Anne said. “She has been the one backing me up the entire time. She believed in me when some people didn’t. She’s always been there. She’s always been my hype man so, of course, I had to have her at my ‘American Idol’ audition.”

Everyone else is invited to come out and support Paige Anne at The Zone this Sunday, March 19 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Anne’s episode of “American Idol” airs at 7 p.m. on ABC.