Crystal Alicea from Winter Haven, is another American Idol hopeful that will appear on ABC this Sunday, March 18th at 8pm. American Idol has come back with a star-studded cast of judges after a brief hiatus. The judges are Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan.

Crystal is a 20 year old singer who is trying for a second time around for the American Idol dream. I had the pleasure of talking with this young, but very inspiring young lady about what her experience has been so far and where she wants to go in life.

Crystal started singing when she was 10 years old and in 5th grade, she is inspired by Demi Lovato because her story is very similar to Crystal’s. When Crystal sang to the judges in Savannah, Georgia, her song of choice was “Lay Me Down” by Sam Smith. When Crystal tried out for American Idol this time, she said, “I wasn’t sure about doing it, because I didn’t want to let anybody down, like family and friends, like last time. So this time I went into it thinking, if I get it, I get it, and if I don’t, I guess I will be disappointing everyone again. But when I got there and I shook my nerves off and everything, I just did it! Crystal says, “This has been a long journey and my favorite moment was meeting everyone and being in an environment that I felt like I actually belonged. Being with everyone and hearing them sing and hearing their stories, I think that was the best part.”

I asked Crystal the hard question, “Does she have a favorite judge?” She responded, “I don’t necessarily have a favorite judge, but I believe that they all have different qualities and they all have different things to tell me as well, because they are all different artists. One is Country, one is Pop and one is R&B, so all of them put together and hearing their critics towards me, I feel they each had a little something different to offer. So they are all my favorites.”

Performing in front of the judges was a little nerve wracking, which is expected, but Crystal said she went into the audition with a unique thought process. She says, “I thought of them as they are my best friends that I haven’t seen in a really long time and that helped me through the process of meeting them and talking to them. I mean they do make you feel comfortable and they are all very genuine people.” Without giving away of how far Crystal has gone through the American Idol process, I asked her what would she like to do if this doesn’t go the way she would like and she says, “I want to move people with my music and my voice, like going to hospitals to sing to elderly people or kids with cancer. I see other celebrities doing that and make their voice move people and I see myself doing that. I don’t want people to think that they are alone. I felt like that once and it’s not good. If I can make someone else feel good about themselves, the way Demi Lovato did for me with singing or the message I have in my songs, that is my dream. Fame and fortune don’t matter to me, its the power of what I can do with my voice!”

If you want to see more of Crystal Alicea, watch her Sunday night at 8pm on American Idol on ABC, and you can follow her on Instagram at @Crystalight97.