American Idol gives Lawton native a second chance at Hollywood

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - Fire Wilmore is a Lawton-born singer getting her chance at stardom via American Idol.

She was first seen on March 19′s episode where she performed Bruno Mars’ ‘Talking to the Moon.’

While she did not get the golden ticket there, she did get a second chance at another audition from judge Katy Perry.

Wilmore grew up in Lawton until she was around eight years old, in and out of the Indian Child Welfare system. After her adoptive mother passed away, she moved around the US. She says the one consistent thing in her life has always been music.

“When I had spent time with my biological siblings, one of the main things that was involved in our life was music. So we were always listening to some kind of music. It was the one stable thing we had as a family,” Wilmore said.

Being from Lawton and in the foster system, Wilmore was exposed to different cultural backgrounds and music genres, something she says helped her find who she was.

“I would always say, when I grow up, I want to be a singer, and yeah, that dream just kind of always just stuck with me. It’s the one thing that I’ve always been passionate about throughout my life.”

Wilmore says she was initially embarrassed when she got two no’s and one yes on her first audition, but she now realizes the opportunity she was given.

“It took a little bit of time, you know, after everything settled, to just be like, okay. It’s not so embarrassing because it wasn’t a complete no, like, I was given an opportunity to come back and redo my audition. And, you know, hopefully, I get to actually show a bit more of myself,” Wilmore said.

Wilmore says the judges’ constructive criticism in her first audition taught her not to play it safe and to stop letting fear guide her actions.

“It was preventing me from learning about myself as an artist, and essentially, just seeing what I could actually do if I tried to do new things vocally, you know, if I try to belt things out, rather than just switching the head voice. It’s really shocking to see what you actually can do, even if you’ve never tried it.”

She says her main goal for her second audition is to prove Luke and Lionel wrong and show Katy she didn’t make a bad decision by giving her another opportunity.

Regardless of the outcome, she says she’ll continue to follow her dreams.

“Even if nothing comes out of American Idol. I still want to go to school, my dream school, and go and study musical theater and continue singing and pursuing my dream after that.”

You can watch Fire Wilmore’s second audition when it airs on American Idol on Sunday, March 26.

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