The 14th season of "American Idol" is slated to kick off Jan. 7, when returning judges Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. begin their search for next big thing in music.
Desiree Flores — the 22-year-old daughter of an Army major — hopes that just might be her.
The self-described "choir geek" is among the musical masses "Idol" fans will see auditioning for Fox's star-making sing-off in the coming weeks. You can judge for yourself how she did — check out this partial clip of her San Francisco performance — but it's hard to imagine her note-nailing rendition of Heart's "Alone" isn't awarded the coveted golden ticket to Hollywood.
Flores tells Military Times her "Idol story" centers on "being a military brat all of my life and how music has gotten me through the rough patches of always moving — and also how it gave me the confidence to chase after my dream."
Indeed, Flores is featured prominently in a Fox promo for the upcoming season dubbed "The Uncrushable Dream."
Desiree "has been singing since she was very little," says her dad, Army Maj. Antonio Flores, with the 62nd Medical Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. She currently works — and sometimes sings — at a local bar and grill.
According to JBLM's Northwest Guardian:
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Her father said he believes in her.
'I keep telling her to not give up and to keep fighting for what she wants out of life,' he said. 'This will not be a quick overnight success. It takes time and patience. We hope all her dreams come true with that hard work.'
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The singer says she hopes her performance encourages other military kids to go after their dreams, "especially military dependents who want to go after a singing/acting/modeling career but feel as if it's almost impossible because of the constant moving to try to chase their dreams, because I went through that as a teen," Flores says.
She says the audition was exhausting, "but a really good experience at the same time."
"It was crazy. It was literally a last-minute decision to even go," she says.
She was among the very last to audition in San Francisco.
"I was third from the last. I had to wait a long time. I couldn't leave until 11 at night. To be honest, before going in front of the judges, I think I blacked out. I was so nervous and focused, I don't really remember much. I remember going in, talking a little bit and then singing.
"And then, well, you'll have to see what happens after that," she says with a laugh.
