By Kayla DeKraker
Rising AMERICAN IDOL contestant Hannah Harper’s talent continues shine as she uses her skills to honor God and step out of her comfort zone.
Her recent performance of “Aint’t No Grave” by Bethel Music and Molly Skaggs saw her ditch her guitar, a big move for the mom of three.
“This time I wanted to do the same thing from the last round and put the guitar down,” Harper told her show mentors, Brad Paisley and Keke Palmer. “I’m having a hard time getting out of my body. And especially bluegrass, you stand in one spot, you do your thing and then you walk off stage.”
Harper also turned to the support and love from her family for comfort.
“Getting to have that moment with my family just to breathe for a second calms all your anxiety,” she said.
Related: AMERICAN IDOL Alum Calls Motherhood Her ‘First Ministry’
During the performance at Disney’s Aulani Resort, she sang:
Oh, fear is a liar with a smooth and velvet tongue
Fear is a tyrant, he’s always telling me to run
Oh, love is a resurrection and love is a trumpet sound
Love is my weapon, I’m gonna take my giants down…There ain’t no grave
Gonna hold my body down
There ain’t no grave
Gonna hold my body down
And when I hear that trumpet sound
I’m gonna rise up outta the ground
Harper left the judges stunned.
“See, here’s the whole point. See, when you can actually be the storyteller, and then sometimes in the middle of that performance, you went from singing to preaching,” said Lionel Richie. “I mean, what I’m saying to you is at that point when you see everybody going, that means we’re listening, and you got our attention. You did a great job.”
Palmer chimed in, saying, “First of all, everybody performs different. I think that’s a big part of this competition, right? It’s like not doing what you think you should do, really embodying what you bring to the stage. And that’s what you did. You don’t have to do what nobody do because when you start singing, girl, and you was pointing, you was commanding to us, we were locked in. It was excellent. It was very moving. Very moving.”
“I love the whole performance,” Luke Bryan said, praising Harper’s performance. “I think your voice is so listenable. It’s so easy on the ears,” he said. “And then finally, we see you get a little more power behind that voice. So you’re showing me you’re ready to branch out and grow. Definitely my favorite performance I’ve seen you do.”
Carrie Underwood added, “Great song choice. Your voice gave me chills the entire time. We got a glimpse of a fire that is in you that I feel like the more you go through this whole process, I hope to see more of. You remind me a lot of myself when I was on the show.”
Harper became a fan favorite during her audition where she sang a relatable original song about postpartum depression.
“I remember being on the couch,” Harper said of her song “String Cheese.” “All I wanted was to be a mom, and I couldn’t do it. I was praying that the Lord would calm my spirit. I got up off my couch and I wrote this song.”
AMERICAN IDOL airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.
Read Next: AMERICAN IDOL Alum Danny Gokey: Christ Is Enough
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