American Idol: Randy Jackson Just Doesn't Know!

Veteran judge holds a 15-year-old's dream in his hands after J.Lo, of all people, says no

By Natalie Finn Jan 27, 2011 5:00 AMTags

By lowering the age limit to 15, American Idol may have opened the door for the next Justin Bieber, but it also has created the potential for more broken hearts than ever before.

And you know how fragile little teenage hearts can be.

Take Emma Henry, whose family drove 16 hours from Colorado to be at the Idol auditions in Milwaukee, for example...

First off, according to her mom, Emma was facing the judges while suffering from a cold.

She sounded good, though, and her gravelly, slightly hoarse tone was a perfect match for Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors."

Based on that not-perfect-but-interesting tone, Steven Tyler was all about it. But Jennifer Lopez, of all people, objected, saying Emma had a promising quality but wasn't quite there yet.

And Randy Jackson agreed with J.Lo for the most part.

"I really, really honestly believe you'd get swallowed up in this whole thing," he told Emma. But in the end, he was no match for the 15-year-old waterworks.

"Please, I want this so bad!" Emma pleaded. "This is what my life is about. I don't want to go home now, I've tried so hard!"

And with that, she was off to Hollywood, even if, as Jennifer and Randy suspect, she may not be ready.

Also on the radar after tonight are Jerome Bell, Scotty McCreery, Thia Megria, Naima AdedapoMolly DeWolf Swensen, Haley Reinhart, Tiwan Strong, Steve Beghun, Scott Dangerfield, Alyson Jados and Chris Medina.

Auditions continue in Nashville tomorrow!