Kanye West was among the contestants to earn golden ticket to join the fifteenth season of American Idol Saturday! Wait…
West, who was in San Francisco over the weekend to perform at a fundraiser for the Democratic National Convention (Vote Kanye 2020), dropped by the open auditions for American Idol‘s final season, which will premiere in January.
To impress the judges, Kanye performed an a capella version of “Gold Digger.” The judges were into the performance —the shout-out to Lopez was a nice touch— and West earned himself entry in round two. It isn’t clear whether or not West will actually participate in the rest of the tournament.
Kim Kardashian West posted a picture of a monitor during Kanye’s performance (above) and Ryan Seacrest posted a photo of Kanye with his golden ticket (top). A piece of the performance also leaked online.
Based on how judges Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick, Jr. responded, the audition seems like it was a genuine, off-the-cuff Kanye stunt. On the other hand, Rolling Stone pointed out that Fox has described the upcoming season as a “season-long celebratory event,” so maybe celebrity auditions are just part of the plan.
The full performance will presumably make its way into Season 15 of American Idol, which airs on Fox beginning in January, 2016.