Sask. musician gets the golden ticket on American Idol

A Saskatchewan singer is getting the chance to live the dream.

Brayden King, who grew up in Weyburn, Sask., and now calls Alberta home, is competing on American Idol — and it happens to coincide with the release of his latest single, titled Livin' The Dream.

"I went to university for a couple years in Edmonton before I kind of decided school wasn't really for me. It was more so, I wanted to be on the road, playing music and singing songs," he said. 

"As soon as I made that decision, life's gotten really, really good."

He got the golden ticket at the American Idol audition in Las Vegas in September and has been bursting at the seams holding in the news ever since. He could finally share it this week, and fans can tune in on Sunday on ABC to see how he did in the Hollywood Week round.

King said his videos on TikTok caught a producer's eye.

"One day I woke up to a DM (direct message) on Instagram from an American Idol casting producer. She's like, 'Hey Brayden, I've seen your videos on TikTok and I really like your voice. Would you like to potentially audition for American Idol?' "

At first he thought it was a scam, but quickly it became real, with some video auditions via Zoom before he headed to the big stage in Las Vegas.

The celebrity judges — Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry — were cool and kind, King said. They grooved along to his original song Down That Road before asking him to sing another.

Richie was the first to give King a "Yes." The judges asked King about his family and he told them his dad was there and that he lost his mom in July to cancer. That was really tough, King said, so it was a big thing to have his dad there with him.

The judges asked his dad, Greg, to come out on stage.

"Katy said, 'Well Greg, Lionel gave your son a yes, and I want to give your son a yes,' and then Luke said, 'I'm going to give him his third yes.' " King recounted. "And then they all screamed together, 'You're going to Hollywood.' "

His dad Greg King said the whole experience was surreal.

"I was really amazed by the magnitude of the production, how many people are involved. There's people everywhere," Greg said in an interview from his home at Katepwa Lake, Sask.

He said it was exciting to see his son make new contacts in the business and interact with so many people who share the same dream.

He'll be tuning in on Sunday evening to see what happened at Hollywood Week on American Idol.

Meanwhile, King is keeping busy in Western Canada. His next tour date is Friday in Lethbridge, Alta., then he heads to Calgary and Grande Prairie.