‘American Idol’ judges decide fate of singer who honored Aubreigh Wyatt

The competition is over for a 15-year-old “American Idol” contestant who honored South Mississippi teenager Aubreigh Wyatt on national television.

Khloe Grace, a singer from Jacksonville, Florida, wrote and performed a song called “Forever 13” in the show’s season premiere. The song is about Wyatt, a teenager from Ocean Springs who died by suicide in 2023.

Grace performed “Stay” by Sugarland in the episode that aired Monday night.

“What a tough song to sing,” Luke Bryan, one of the judges, said after Grace’s performance. “You should be so proud of yourself.”

But the judges were forced to cut the field of singers down to 30 contestants, and did not carry Grace to the next round.

“It’s hard to go home,” Grace said in an interview after the decision. “I would have loved to move forward, but they felt like it was best for me to go home and work hard and maybe come back one day. This is just the beginning.”

Daniel Stallworth, an elementary school music teacher from Moss Point, is also competing on the show and advanced after the season premiere.

Stallworth was not featured on Monday night’s episode but is expected to appear in a March 2 episode titled “Hollywood Week In Music City - Part 2.”