Flight Test Engineer Trenton Wright Takes a Leap of Faith with ‘American Idol’ Audition: “This Could Be Life-Changing”

Luke Bryan said Trenton Wright resembles Yellowstone’s Luke Grimes’ little brother.

Trenton Wright; Photo Courtesy of American Idol via ABC

Trenton Wright, a 23-year-old Flight Test Engineer from Helena, Montana, faced his biggest challenge yet—auditioning for American Idol—despite having no prior experience performing in front of an audience.

Flight Test Engineer Or Talented Singer?

“Right now, I’m getting my master’s in flight test engineering,” Wright explained to the Idol judges. “I’m getting my pilot’s license. I soloed for the first time. It was really fun flying for the first time. I was a little nervous. I was mainly excited. Kind of the same thing here. What makes me most nervous between American Idol and flying solo for the first time would definitely have to be American Idol.”

He then told the shocked Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan when he revealed that he hasn’t really “performed in front of anyone ever” before. “I’m pretty excited,” he added.

Trenton Wright; Photo Courtesy of American Idol via ABC

“A leap right here, buddy,” Richie admitted, to which Bryan added, “You’re just taking a swing at it and going, it’s either this or airplanes.”

Wright stated that he hopes that his audition will allow him to discover which path he should take full-time: music or being a pilot. “This could be a life-changing moment for me. Today is the day that I will find out whether music will be my path,” the contestant from Helena, Montana, continued.

Auditioned With A Cover of “Rich Girl” by Daryl Hall and John Oates

He went on to perform a cover of “Rich Girl” by Daryl Hall and John Oates. Wearing a gray t-shirt and jeans, Trenton Wright allowed his unique vocals to shine, however, he wasn’t confident enough for the Idol judges.

At one point, Luke Bryan went and joined Wright and shook him up some to feel more comfortable singing in front of people. “We can tell you’ve never sung in front of people…” Bryan said as he broke the ice and belted out the lyrics to the iconic Hall and Oates track.

“I’m your number one fan, sing it to me!” Carrie Underwood shouted.

Earned Praise From Idol Judges

All three of the Idol judges then offer commentary on his audition.

“You have a really nice voice. It’s hard to believe that you just woke up, and we’re like, ‘I’m going to try out for American Idol.’ But I feel like if it’s a bit of a dice roll on you, there’s people that have come in here that have been working for like years and years,” Underwood said, before offering him advice. ”You would have to get real comfortable, real fast in front of people looking at your audience. You need some of that confidence that you can step on stage and like own the stage. You can’t let it own you.”

“I promise. I will work my butt off, I promise that,” Wright told Underwood. “I’m very new to this, but this is where I want to be.”

The “Before He Cheats” singer then told the Montana native to study his favorite singers to learn how to find confidence while performing.

Trenton Wright; Photo Courtesy of American Idol via ABC

“That’s where you’re going to have to play catch up. You need to go and watch some of your favorite performers and be like, ‘okay, how can I,’ because I still do that. I’ll be like, okay, I need to get my headspace in,” Underwood admitted. “You have a lot of raw, moldable talent.”

Richie added, “And by the way, we all started out looking down, looking up, looking sideways because the fear of it is unthinkable. Could it be possible that you could step out of the privacy of your bedroom, walk onto the American Idol stage and move forward to the next round? That is a leap of faith.”

Resembled Luke Grimes’ Little Brother

Luke Bryan then said, “I mean, you’re singing pretty good, and you look like Luke Grime’s little brother. So yes, the girls will be like all submitting when you start singing. But yeah, man, this is what this show’s all about. So let’s vote.”

Richie, Underwood and Bryan all voted ‘yes’ and Trenton Wright earned a golden ticket to advance Hollywood.

“Alright, well Mr. Flight, boy, you’re taking off to Hollywood… You are going Hollywood,” Bryan revealed.

Wright concluded with, “I’m taking off to Hollywood. I got a lot of work to do before then. So I will put in the work and I’ll show up for Hollywood.”