Keelin McGinn.

A Dungarvan woman, of Irish American descent, has progressed to the Hollywood stages of the 21st series of hit music series, American Idol. 

The show, which has unearthed stars such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks, is back underway on ABC, with this year’s judging panel comprised of international pop star Katy Perry, legendary artist Lionel Richie and country music sensation Luke Bryan. 

Keelin McGinn, 24, who studied at St. Augustine’s College, Dungarvan and the Cork School of Music before returning to New York to pursue her career in music, appeared on the show recently on the auditions phase, performing her self-written song, ‘Don’t Call Me Up’. 

The performance was enough to wow Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, seeing Keelin progress to the live shows in Hollywood. 

Drawing comparisons to Meghan Trainor, the judges acknowledged that the fun and upbeat nature of the song was captivating, and they outlined that they saw potential in the Dungarvan native going forward. 

“That song showed me some promise”, noted Katy Perry. 

“Things that are memorable, that’s what makes careers. You’re memorable. I would love to see where you go”, said Lionel Richie. 

“It’s a little weird but I see something in there, it’s definitely fun”, said Perry, with Lionel Richie then sending Keelin to Hollywood after Luke Bryan had voted no. 

“I’m not mad that you’re going to Hollywood”, he clarified. “It’s definitely going to be interesting. 

“Sorry what, is this real life?”, exclaimed Keelin in delight. “Thank you all so much.”

The audition has already been viewed over 300,000 times online, with between 10 and 60 people from each audition city moving on to Hollywood. 

Hollywood Week, the first set of eliminations, includes a genre round and a second round of musical duets. To compete in the genre round, contestants pick their preferred music genre from a given list, before meeting with a mentor who t in that genre, and performing a song of their preference.

Hopefuls will go through various audition phases before the judges select a few dozen contestants to sharpen their live performance skills with the help of celebrity mentors at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii. After a few more auditions, the remaining singers will return to Los Angeles to kick off the competition in full.