American Idol (Part 1)
Recently we shared a quick little picture of Caitriona auditioning for American Idol. A lot of people have been asking about this and so we wanted to share a little more of that story with you, a story that yet again we can see God’s fingerprints all over! We’ll let Caitriona take it from here…
It's true, I auditioned for American Idol! I know right? Kinda Cool! What’s even cooler to me is how God used this whole experience to answer some big prayers that both Colm and I had been praying at that time!
Back in March 2020 during the Covid Pandemic Colm and I moved back home to Ireland from Nashville TN, just a few short months after we married. We were living with Colm's mom at the time and working as Janitors in a local department store (the only jobs we could get to keep us sane and get us out of the house during lockdown), it was around that time, Summer of 2020 when a talent scout approached me about the possibility of auditioning for the show. Initially, my first response was a resounding No! Singing competitions scare me! I had a few not-so-good experiences competing growing up which knocked my confidence and so my biggest fear was that this would happen all over again!
However, after much prayer, discernment and a lot of conversations with God and Colm, we both agreed, what have we got to lose? After all, we were in the middle of a lockdown, and I, especially, after a few months of 4am wake up calls to clean and mop store floors, was so over it! And so, I gave God my yes, we gave God our Yes! We agreed that I would audition for the show.
Whats even more mind-blowing, is that it was right before this opportunity even came about that Colm and I had been praying a lot about the possibility of moving back to America. Both of our hearts were feeling called back to Music City, yet it felt like an impossible thing, especially as all travel worldwide was still totally shut down. Still, we continued to pray that if this was something God truly wanted for us he would make it happen! After all, with God, there is nothing that is impossible! Could American Idol be the thing that would bring us back to the USA?
The first few rounds of auditions for American Idol took place online via Skype. It was pretty nerve-wracking but I kept reminding myself what have I got to lose, we’re in lockdown! I made it through those first few rounds of auditions and received the good news that I had been chosen to audition in front of the celebrity judges in California!
However, travel to America at this stage was STILL totally shut down, so again, it felt like an impossibility, yet we continued to remind each other that if this is something that God wants for us, HE can move mountains, somehow HE would get us to California for the audition and there were just a few months to do it!
In the meantime, while we waited to see what God would do, we decided to go backpacking for a month across Europe, walking the El Camino De Santiago and stopping off in Italy for our honeymoon before returning home to Ireland.
When we arrived back home in Ireland after backpacking, we still had no idea if it would be possible for us to get back to America in time for the audition. It wasn’t until a few short weeks before the audition happened that God miraculously opened up a way for us to get back! So, we booked our flights and off we set to….. MEXICO, to quarantine for a couple of weeks before finally making our way to sunny California!
To be continued……
(American Idol Blog Part Two, Coming Soon!)
With love,
Colm & Caitriona
KIRWAN the band