Makiyah Mustiful is still traveling the road toward becoming an American Idol.
Mustiful, of Pine Bluff, made it to the Golden Room after her rendition of Deborah Cox’s “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here” on Monday’s “American Idol”. Mustiful was one of 13 revealed to have advanced to the next stage of the longtime singing competition that airs on ABC.
The episode was the first of two during Hollywood Week: Music City Takeover, which was recorded at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. The second part to Hollywood Week will air next Monday.
Mustiful, along with Forrest City resident and Palestine-Wheatley High School sophomore Michael Garner, are in the running to make the top-30 list of singers who will compete in a new Ohana round at Disney resort Aulani in Ko Olina, Hawaii.
Garner sang “Wanna Be Loved” by The Red Clay Strays.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“I’m a little nervous,” Mustiful said on camera before she took the microphone. “I’m just getting a little overwhelmed. The judges have some tough decisions to make today, but I want to be one of the top 30 like so bad, that I could hit a backflip right now. I can’t flip, but I’ll try.”
Mustiful’s father, Dedrick Mustiful, was featured. She revealed Dedrick, a deputy sheriff in Jefferson County, died of cancer in 2014. Makiyah was 13 at the time of his death.
“I was a daddy’s girl,” she said on the episode. “I was there every day, every step of the way.”
Her emotions surfaced as she began to describe the days with her father in the hospital. She then read a letter she wrote to her father in his memory.
“With this performance, I know he’s looking down, shining down on me,” she said. “When I hit this performance, the heavens will be dancing.”
Her take on Cox’s 1998 hit obviously was enough to keep her in the hunt for victory. Judge Lionel Richie appeared captivated in his reaction, leaning back with his right hand raised.
“I don’t know where you’re going to be in the stars, but you are a star,” he said.
Others who made the Golden Room after Part 1 of Hollywood Week, according to TV Insider, include Bryant Thomas of Mobile, Ala.; Keyla Richardson of Pensacola, Fla.; Jordan McCullough of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Madison Moon of Orlando, Fla.; Trace Casanova of Charlotte, N.C.; Roelle of Dorado, Puerto Rico; Hannah Harper of Willow Springs, Mo.; Philmon of LaGrange, Ga.; Lucas Leon of Gallatin, Tenn.; Abayomi of San Francisco; and Jake Thistle of Paramus, N.J.
The episode ended before it could be revealed whether Chris Tungseth of Fergus Falls, Minn.; Chloe Lauren of Warrenville, S.C.; and Braden Rumfelt of Murphy, N.C., who were called to step toward the judges, were sent to the Golden Room.
Celebrity judge Luke Bryan said in a teaser for the next episode some “sing-offs” will take place to determine the list, which will be revealed then. Richie noted before Mustiful made the Golden Room he, Carrie Underwood and Bryan took on an uneasy task of whittling the pool down from 127 contestants to 30.