‘American Idol’ Star Evelyn Cormier Says Lionel Richie Gave Her Great Advice During Hollywood Week

Evelyn got extremely honest and admitted that she didn’t think that she would ever fit in on the popular singing competition show.

“People told me my whole life that I should audition for American Idol. I never thought that it was my path — that I did not have a conventional singing voice and that there wasn’t a place for me there,” Evelyn exclusively revealed to In Touch.

“I always would respond, ‘If God wants me to audition, He will bring the opportunity to me,'” she added.

Fast forward to November 2017, when Evelyn was contacted by a casting producer who had seen her on season 5 of 90 Day Fiancé. That casting producer had listened to Evelyn’s music and thought she had talent, but since the auditions for season 1 of American Idol were already closed at the time, she asked Evelyn to audition for season 2.

“Even though the thought of it was scary to me, I believed that God opened this door and that I needed to walk through it. So I did,” Evelyn gushed.

But Evelyn was still extremely nervous on the day she auditioned for judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.

“I waited all day before I actually got my chance to audition before the judges,” Evelyn said. “I saw other contestants going in for their auditions and coming out excited with a golden ticket or empty-handed and going home. It was so nerve-wracking waiting for my turn, wondering how many tickets they were actually giving out and would there still be one left when I got there.”

Thankfully, she was able to feed off of the energy in the room from the other American Idol hopefuls.

“The atmosphere was fun and friendly even though I was anxious,” Evelyn added. “Everyone was supportive and encouraging to each other. Contestants that had gone before me gave me advice on which judges were the hardest to impress and tips for success.”

“When it was finally my turn, finally walking through those doors, fear flooded my body and my heart beat so loud I was sure everyone could hear it!” she said about her audition.

But Evelyn didn’t have to worry too much, because she completely blew the judges away — and Katy, 34, even said that Evelyn was her “favorite voice ever.”

And Evelyn revealed that her journey on American Idol actually taught her how to control her nerves and anxiety.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned on American Idol is that you need to compartmentalize your nerves,” Evelyn said. “It’s a stressful time, and nerves are good, they give you the adrenaline you need to perform. But the anxiety you have worrying about what will be or what if when you’re just trying to live day to day is not good.”

“This experience has taught me that no amount of worrying is going to affect the outcome, but it will affect how you’re feeling right now,” she continued. “Once I realized that I’ve been able to relax and let go a lot of added stress and anxiety, and save it for backstage right before my performance.”

She’s also been able to learn from Katy, Lionel and Luke — and Lionel actually gave her and her fellow contestants a very good piece of advice during Hollywood week.

“The best piece of advice from the judges was given during Hollywood week and it was directed at all of us,” Evelyn said. “Lionel Richie said, ‘So what if you forget words. Make some up. I forget words all the time, but the show goes on.'”

“Basically these words just calmed me down and gave me a more laid back approach to the competition,” Evelyn continued.

“I still give 100%, but when the professionals tell you it’s no big deal to forget words, that takes away the fear of 90% of what could go wrong on stage,” she added.

Even though Evelyn’s performance did not air during the Sunday, March 24 episode of Hollywood week, she was ushered through onto the group round.

Just hours before the Monday, March 25, episode, Evelyn took to Instagram to share a cute selfie of her performance group.

“Shout out to 5 City Nitty Gritty — tune in to @americanidol tonight to see if we make it to the solo round! 😱🎶 @americanidol #thenextidol #americanidol,” she wrote in the caption.

Be sure to catch Evelyn on American Idol, which airs on ABC Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.