OC Teen Ava August Goes To Hollywood In 'American Idol' Season 19

DANA POINT, CA —It was fitting for Ava August's "American Idol" Season 19 audition debut on Sunday night. Her singing gigs have been largely canceled since the pandemic hit Orange County exactly one year ago. On Sunday, Orange County started their reopening to indoor dining, movie theaters, and small outdoor concerts. Still, her gaze is set on a much bigger stage, now that she's been handed her golden ticket to Hollywood.

On Sunday night, the "American Idols" judges offered her a spot in the next round of the reality singing competition.

For a year, singing to a live audience has been shut down along with the pandemic.

With signature vocal stylings and fit-for pop-radio tunes, Ava August turned to her computer and indoor studio during the live-performance shutdown. Scheduled outdoor performances at Promenade on Forest in Laguna Beach and others were shuttered, and though Ava performed and recorded her original songs in her at-home studio, there is nothing like performing before a live audience, she tells Patch.

"I did live-stream concerts and played live on Instagram during the shutdown," Ava says. "It's just not the same. You miss the human interaction while you're playing."

Ava August is a self-taught vocal artist and sings soulful pop tunes and anything "billboard." She counts her inspiration as Adele, Shawn Mendez, Ed Sheeran, The Beatles, and Julia Michales. At Dana Hills High School, which has been online all year thanks to the pandemic, she loves her AP Music Theory class and teacher Ray Medina.

Ava turned to songwriting during the pandemic, putting her musical skills to the test. In October, she penned pop-heartbreaker "Daybreak," available on Amazon Music, Spotify and other online channels. "It's Romeo and Juliet without the bad ending," she says.

She wrote the tune a year-and-a-half ago, she says, after her first "big crush," which she doesn't describe in detail.

"No one wanted us to be together," she says. "We could only love each other when no one else was around." August deftly wove the song to fit any forbidden love, whether sexuality, family, religion, or social distance, to keep people apart. She's moved on from that crush and describes herself as "single as a pringle."

"There are so many things on my plate right now," she says with a laugh. Though it shows her heart and the depth of her emotion, "Daybreak" and her online presence led "American Idol" producers to her virtual doorstep.

Sharing Her Voice...

Two years ago, she appeared on "The Voice" and was one of the youngest contestants ever to make that journey. She sang "House of the Rising Sun" in a blind audition before the judges. Performing for John Legend, Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton. She had just turned 13 at the time.

"It was a big learning experience," she says, and instruction from Levin and other judges was taken to heart. "It showed me what it was like to perform on TV." One year later, she was invited to sing the National Anthem for the Los Angeles Kings.

"It was such an honor," she says. "Something I will never forget."

Those lessons helped her grow as an artist, and "American Idol" wasn't a thought for the teen as she prepared to attend Dana Hills High School.

"American Idol" producers contacted her for a series of online meetings, tryouts, and discussions over the summer.

"American Idol" Quest

Auditioning was a "stepped process," she said. Once contacted, she had to pass through tiers of people who work there," Ava says. "One of my last auditions with the producers was on my 15th birthday. I sang an original song, and afterward, they told me 'we want you to sing for the celebrity judges.'"

In October, Ava and her mother went to San Diego to audition before Katie Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Ritchie. Ryan Seacrest was there to welcome the 15-year-old.

"It was surreal, seeing musicians from around the country," she says. "I met artists from Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania. Just seeing people from all over the United States and artists of multiple genres coming together to sing was incredible."

August didn't shy from the cameras that are "everywhere," she says.

While waiting for her audition, people were filming you, there were producers' meetings and more. And then, Seacrest walked her to the door with the huge "American Idol" sign, where celebrity judges on the other side and her journey—she hopes—about to begin. Whatever happened, she had made it this far.

"My mom and I were in awe and so excited at the possibilities," she says. "It's almost indescribable, going into the unknown."

Follow "American Idol" on ABC, Sunday nights at 8 p.m. pacific.

"And don't forget to vote," she says.

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