Who is Cam Amen? American Idol 2023 contestant grew up in foster care

The last round of auditions for American Idol season 21 will air on ABC network on Sunday, March 26 at 8 pm ET. The two-hour long episode will showcase many contestants from across the USA trying to earn a spot in the competition by showing off their singing skills. The qualifiers of the competition will receive a golden ticket while the rest will have to go home empty-handed.

27-year-old Cam Amen, who is all set to audition this week, grew up in foster care in Anderson, Indiana, and attended many secondary schools in Lecanto and Crystal River. He has a deep soulful voice which seems to have impressed the judges, as seen in his audition clip shared by the network. In a preview video, judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie can be seen getting teary-eyed after hearing his voice and emotional life story.

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American Idol contestant Cam Amen leaves the judges teary-eyed

Amen is a Tik-Tok music star with over 3,000 fans and 17,000 likes. He grew up in foster care after being taken away from his mother. Cam called the experience “bit rough” in his American Idol audition before singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and playing the notes on a piano. He added:

“We were in foster care a long time. I did leave at 18 and took in my brother and sister. I knew I had to raise them right and get 'em through high school.”

Amen has been taking care of his siblings on his own for the past five years. Judge Luke Bryan could not stop his tears during Cam’s audition. The three judges gave him a standing ovation and Bryan also said,

"You've been through a lot, but the rest of your life is waiting on you. You hear me? God bless you man, God bless you."

Cam, whose real name is Cameron Osterloh, is a server at the City Fire restaurant in Florida, and has a dog named Karma. He posted his first cover video of Parson James’ Waiting Game on YouTube five years ago. Amen ranked second in the Sanford talent competition, for which he won $500. He also performed at the Lady Lake benefit concert for Ukrainian refugees.

The contestant hopeful's voice has a wide range. Talking about his American Idol audition, he said in another interview,

"I’ve been working so hard throughout the years just to be able to get myself to sing in front of people, so to know I’m on television singing in front of millions is amazing."

He performs many original songs and some covers on his Tik-Tok account, like I Will Always Love You, Lay Me Down, and It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday. Cam’s most liked video is a duet of him performing Say Something with his grandmother in a competition. He revealed in the caption of the video that his grandmother, who loved the song, passed away while he was singing it to her.

However, the American Idol clip does not reveal whether Cam was able to clear his audition.

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Tune into the audition on ABC on Sunday, March 26 at 8 pm ET, to see if Cam Amen can clear his American Idol audition and reach the Hollywood Week round. Fans can also stream the show on Hulu and the network's website one day after the television premiere.