Victoria Loren "Tori" Kelly (born December 14th, 1992) was a contestant on Season 9 of American Idol.
Audition[]
Tori auditioned in Denver. She sang "Gravity" by John Mayer. Although Simon voted "no", Randy, Kara and Victoria all voted "yes", sending her to the next round.
Hollywood Round[]
Tori was shown in a group called "The Mighty Rangers" with Maddie Penrose, Danny Jones, Mark Labriola and Kimberly Kerbow singing "Closer" by Ne-Yo. She and Maddie both advanced. For her final solo performance, she sang "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry. After the judges' verdict, she was placed in the same holding room as Casey James, Tim Urban, Tyler Grady, Andrew Garcia, Todrick Hall, Katie Stevens, Jermaine Sellers, Siobhan Magnus, Crystal Bowersox, Alex Lambert, Michael Lynche, Thaddeus Johnson, Lilly Scott and Jeff Goldford. Everyone in his room advanced. At the final judgment, the judges told her that she did not make the Top 24.
After the Show[]
Tori achieved success after the show. In 2012, she independently released an EP, titled Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly. The following year, Scooter Braun signed her to Capitol Records. In 2015, her first full album, Unbreakable Smile was released. Her lead single "Nobody Love" because her first song to hit the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, she was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards, in which fellow Idol alum Carrie Underwood won a few years prior. In 2016, she provided the voice of Meena the Elephant in the animated film Sing.
Tori appeared on the fourth season of The Masked Singer, in disguise as "Seahorse". She also served as a Duet Partner for Madison Watkins and Colin Jamieson on Season 19.
Tori served as a guest mentor and guest judge for the the first part of the Top 24 of season 22.