New Paltz Teen Heads to Hollywood on American Idol

A Hudson Valley teen is heading to Hollywood.

Just last month, Ian Flannigan of Saugerties came in 3rd place on NBC's The Voice. As a member of Team Blake Shelton, Ian showed off his unmistakable voice and blew away the judges week to week.

There must be something in the water in Ulster County.

The New Platz Arts in School Association, also known as NPASA, announced on their Facebook page on Sunday, January 3rd, that a New Paltz high school student received a golden ticket to Hollywood on this year's installment of ABC's American Idol.

Laila Mach, who is a sophomore at New Paltz high school, tells NPASA "I was able to go to San Diego to audition, which was awesome" adding "Before that, I did hours and hours of Zoom auditions right from my kitchen table!"

Due to COVID-19 restrictions auditions were opened virtually this year. In years passed, American Idol auditions filled football stadiums of hopefully singers and songwriters

A promotional trailer for this season of American Idol aired on New Year's Eve and viewers got a little tease of Laila getting her "Golden Ticket."

According to the NPASA Facebook post, not only is the sophomore a talented singer, but she also plays several different instruments like piano and guitar, and apparently, she writes her own songs too.

Sounds like a winning combo to us!

Mark your calendars, American Idol returns in 2021 on Sunday, February 14th on ABC at 8 pm.

Tune in to see if New Paltz's own, Laila Mach gets any screen time with judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie!

Good luck Laila!