19-year-old Lola Bonfiglio had a secret weapon up her sleeve when she auditioned on American Idol. She brought along 2/3rds of ‘90s icons Wilson Phillips to sing with her! The mum, daughter, and aunt harmonies from Lola, Carnie Wilson, and Wendy Wilson were too precious. The trio soon had judge Carrie Underwood absolutely melting. They sang Wilson Phillips’ timeless hit “Hold On,” of course. Those harmonies are still as uplifting and gorgeous as they were back when the band dropped the hit in February 1990.
The audition was super heartwarming, given how emotional Carrie was to see Wilson Phillips, plus the new generation, give her such a special performance. Carrie was even singing along as they sang. It was also really sweet to see how much the mum, daughter, and aunt loved to sing together. The Music Man has to say there’s something about the sound of family harmony which you just can’t get from any other performance.
Lola’s audition went viral, drawing 681,000 views on her season 23 debut. The teen’s audition split the fanbase a bit, as some viewers felt Carnie and Wendy carried the performance. Other viewers liked what Lola brought to the table and added comments such as “Lola looks so much like her mom, Carnie. Great voice like her mom, too” and “I think she has a pure voice. Emotional. I got the chills. A really beautiful voice. A lot of people can hit the notes, but they lack an emotional quality. I think she has it.”
Wilson Phillips have a knack for delivering killer TV performances. One of their best performances in recent years came when they sang “Hold On” on the Kelly Clarkson Show. Kelly sang the opening, and then the trio joined her, creating an absolutely stacked vocal line. You can tell Kelly is such a huge fan, and the trio loved her back just as much. The Music Man has to say this performance is the definition of good vibes!
Lola followed up her trio performance of “Hold On” with a solo performance of Kacey Musgraves’ “Rainbow”. The college student’s audition went down a treat with the American Idol judges, who gave her a clean sweep of three yes votes. Lionel Richie told her, “Your voice is there,” while noting that she needed to draw out the emotional depth of her lead vocals to tell the story of the song more fully.
Lola progressed to the Hollywood week, where she performed Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather.” She was eliminated at that point in the competition.