'American Idol': 5 things to know about Estero teen Casey Bishop
Charles Runnells
Casey Bishop opened her mouth and sang Sunday night on “American Idol.” And the world seemed to respond with one resounding word: “Wow!”
The Estero teen did more than win a golden ticket to “Idol’s” upcoming Hollywood Week. She also scored countless glowing posts on social media and write-ups in major publications such as Billboard, Entertainment Weekly and HuffPost.
Bishop, 16, says she’s thankful for all those kind words from the show’s judges and fans.
“Wow, is all I can say,” she wrote Tuesday on her Instagram page, which has grown from 3,600 followers to 25,000 since Sunday. “Thank you to all who are supporting me and taking the time out of your day to leave such positive comments. You’re all so amazing and are making my heart so happy.”
That audition: Estero teen wows judges
Ready to rock:Estero teen Casey Bishop is ready to rock out on her TV audition
Bishop — a sophomore at Fort Myers’ Center for the Arts at Cypress Lake High School — added that she’s still in shock after Sunday’s auditions.
“I’m so excited for this new chapter in my life and hollywood week!” wrote Bishop, who was 15 when the show was filmed in November. “I did not expect the judges to say the things that they did about me.
"I can’t even begin to explain how grateful I am. Thank you guys so much again. HOLLYWOOD HERE I COME.”
Here are five things you need to know about Casey Bishop:
Even The Crüe loves her
The judges, the fans, even Mötley Crüe — everybody seems to love Casey Bishop.
Bishop sang two songs for the judges Sunday: The jazz standard “My Funny Valentine” and a slowed-down, bluesy version of Mötley Crüe’s “Live Wire.”
That last song earned Bishop some major new fans: The guys from The Crüe, themselves.
Both the band and bassist Nikki Sixx posted about her this week and shared her audition video on Twitter and Instagram.
"Live Wire. The lyrics and melody really stand out in her version," Sixx wrote on Instagram. "Way to go girl."
The Crüe also had kind things to say on the band's Twitter and Instagram accounts: “Congratulations to Casey Bishop who blew away the judges … with an awesome rendition of ‘Live Wire.' ”
The feeling is mutual, by the way.
“I love The Crüe!” Bishop said last week. “I love rock so much.”
She’s never performed for a big audience
That audition was Bishop’s first time singing for a big audience — other than her friends, her high school chorus and school talent shows.
“I have no experience performing,” Bishop said on "Idol." “Most people here seem to have lots of performing experience. I’m kinda intimidated.
“The only places I sing are literally my bathroom. I put my song on, pick up my brush and then I just go for it, like in the mirror. I just literally pretend that I’m onstage.”
That impressed judge Katy Perry — a longtime idol of Bishop’s.
“You’re really, really, really good,” Perry told her on the show. “And I love that nobody knows that you can sing besides you and couple of your friends and your hairbrush, probably. I mean, a lot of hair, a lot of brushing, a lot of microphone time.”
Fans can expect more of that story arc when Bishop returns to "American Idol" next month.
“I’ve never performed,” Bishop told The News-Press and Naples Daily News last week. “And they’re pretty much basing my story off of that.”
She dreams of being a rock singer
Despite her inexperience onstage, Bishop has big plans for her future after high school.
She wants to rock out.
“I want to be a rock artist,” she said last week. “That’s what I’ve always wanted to do and had my eyes on and my mind on: Just singing and making music and singing on the stage, rocking out.”
She hopes the show helps her do that, thanks to the national exposure.
“I hope this leads to me just being on a stage in the future and being surrounded by people that support me and making my own music and my own sound, you know?” she said last week. “I just really want to be on the stage. I love it.
“I didn’t know I could love it that much. It’s just that feeling of adrenaline and performing.”
The aspiring rock 'n' roller adores Mötley Crüe, The Pretty Reckless, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime and '90s grunge bands Nirvana and Alice in Chains. But she also loves blues and jazz acts, including Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
Previously: Casey Bishop is ready to rock out on her 'American Idol' audition
She probably won’t pull out a guitar on “Idol”
Bishop sometimes plays guitar on her Instagram and YouTube videos, but she doubts she’ll be doing that on “American Idol.”
“Probably not,” she says. “It’s not the best. I just strum a little (laughs).”
Luke Bryan thinks she’ll win this thing
The “American Idol” judge thinks we’ve already seen this year’s winner.
And her name is Casey Bishop.
“I think she’s the damn winner of ‘American Idol,’” Bryan said Sunday, just moments after Bishop auditioned. “Period. It’s evident.”
He also said this: “Wow, y’all. My body has been tingling for 10 minutes. She is a MASSIVE star.”
And this: “I didn’t think anybody would get close to Alejandro’s audition (2019 finalist Alejandro Aranda), as far as me being just, like, dipped in Disney and sparkles and flowers and doves. And that’s what your audition was for me.
“I wrote ‘Top 10, def’ on the Mötley Crüe song, and then you just did — I don’t even know what the heck just happened just then (with 'My Funny Valentine').”
The other judges also seemed impressed. Lionel Richie predicted great things for the young singer.
“We’re gonna enjoy watching you grow,” he said. “Right here in front of us. … The sky is the limit.”
Bishop will return for Hollywood Week, which starts March 21. “American Idol” airs at 8 p.m. Sundays on ABC. Learn more about the show at abc.com/shows/american-idol.