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Summary

Katy Perry Burst Into Tears On 'American Idol' & A Shooting Survivor Really Moved Her (VIDEO)

"Our country has f*cking failed us!"

Katy Perry on "American Idol." Right: Contestant Trey Louis singing for the judges on "American Idol."

Katy Perry on "American Idol." Right: Contestant Trey Louis singing for the judges on "American Idol."

Senior Writer

Singing auditions can get emotional on American Idol, but emotions reached an all-time high on Sunday night after a school shooting survivor auditioned for the judges.

Trey Louis, 21, performed in front of Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie and it was his story of why he was there that led Perry to break down in tears.

This article contains content that may be upsetting to some of our readers.

The mattress salesman from Santa Fe, Texas sang Stone by Whiskey Myers. Bryan described Louis' voice as "perfect" and then proceeded to ask him why he wanted to be on American Idol.

That's when things took a heartbreaking turn.

Louis explained that he was inside Santa Fe High School when a gunman shot and killed several students in May 2018.

“I was in Art Room 1 and he shot up Art Room 2 before he made his way to Art Room 1,” he told the three judges.

“Lost a lot of friends. Eight students were killed. Two teachers were killed. It’s just really been negative, man. Santa Fe’s had a bad rap here since 2018.”

Bryan started talking about Louis' singing voice again, before Perry started sobbing.

“Our country has f*cking failed us," the singer shouted.

Louis watched her and replied: "Facts."

The California Gurls singer added "This is not OK. You should be singing here because you love music."

"You didn’t have to lose eight friends. I hope that you remind people that we have to change because, you know what, I’m scared too.”

"We have tolerated this for so long, too long. It’s become a norm," Richie continued.

All three judges decided to send Louis through to Hollywood and gave him a group hug before he walked out the door.

Following Louis' audition, Perry shared his audition clip with an emoji of a broken heart as the caption.

Bryan and Richie also tweeted about the audition.

"Trey, man you have the perfect voice," Bryan tweeted. "You sing from the heart and we are really bless you came to us."

In his tweet, Richie wrote,:"@trefromthefe you sing from such a place of strength. Thank you for gracing us with your talent, and sharing your story."

Last week a 17-year-old Vancouver teen wowed the judges with his performance of Billy Joel's New York State Of Mind.

The judges proceeded to give Tyson Venegas the first Platinum Ticket of the season.

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    • Senior Writer

      Asymina Kantorowicz (she/her) was a Senior Writer for Narcity Media. She has worked at Yahoo Canada, CTV News Vancouver Island, CTV News Channel, and CHCH News. Over the past eight years, she took on various newsroom roles and helped produce award-winning newscasts. Loving the fast-paced environment of any newsroom, she helped cover stories like the 2016 royal visit to Victoria, the 2019 B.C. manhunt, and provincial elections. She had an MA in journalism and a BA in media from Western University. She moved from Toronto to Victoria a few years ago and loved being close to the ocean.

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