Angela Martin has run out of chances to make it on American Idol -- however thanks to judges Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi, her dreams of becoming a professional singer are not over yet.
ADVERTISEMENT
"[DioGuardi] is going to write you a song. You're going into a studio and she's going to produce a song for you," DeGeneres told Martin during Friday's The Ellen DeGeneres Show broadcast. "We're going to get you a record label."
"See? See how things turn out?" DeGeneres added as Martin hugged her.
The 28-year-old Chicago native was offered the song and record deal after she tried -- and failed -- to make American Idol as a semifinalist for a third consecutive season.
She was eliminated at the end of the ninth season's Hollywood Week and wouldn't have been able to audition again due to the show's age limitations.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It was heartbreaking," Martin told DeGeneres prior to the surprise, adding that a picture of her 10-year-old daughter Jessica -- who is being treated for Rhett Syndrome -- pushed her over the edge emotionally before she learned the news of her elimination.
"I was like, 'I failed.' How am I going to tell her mommy didn't make it?"
Martin had first auditioned for American Idol's seventh season in 2008 and made it to Hollywood Week, but it wasn't easy once she got there since her father had been murdered just before it took place.
"I had to go to Hollywood a week after his funeral. So it was very hard," Martin told DeGeneres.
While she failed to make it as a semifinalist during the show's seventh season, she came back and auditioned for the eighth season and once again received a golden ticket -- however this time she never even got to Hollywood because she was imprisoned over traffic violations.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I went to jail. I had to spend six days in jail because I couldn't come up with the money to pay my tickets," she told DeGeneres.
"So being in that cell and watching American Idol on the TV in jail, I'm like, "I hope people don't know who I am in here" because they showed me while I was in jail. I just put my head down every time."
In addition, Martin is currently dealing with her mother being missing for the last two months but is just happy to know she's alive.
"America's Most Wanted called the detectives on the case, and the detectives called my sister and said that they found her on 55th and Halsted in Chicago," she explained to DeGeneres.
"So we ran out looking for her. A guy at a liquor store said, 'You just missed her three hours ago.' So I'm like, 'My mom's alive.'"
ADVERTISEMENT
Similar to how she never gave up on her American Idol dream, Martin said she'll never stop looking for her mom.
"A weight was just lifted off me then and we just started looking for her again," she said. "We'll keep looking."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio