Northern Suburbs teen Jordan Anthony taking his rare musical talent to American Idol’s top 24

Perth-based teenager Jordan Anthony is over the moon with joy after winning a golden ticket to American Idol’s top 24.

Plucked from relative obscurity — the 19-year-old from the northern suburbs has the social platform TikTok to thank for his talents being discovered abroad.

“I was singing a Teddy Swims song literally sitting in my car. That was the video that was found, saying, ‘We really like your voice, have you heard of American Idol?’”

Taken aback, Anthony offered a resounding “yes” to the prospect of auditioning in front of judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan for a spot in the competition.

But there was a slight hiccup.

“Do you know that I’m on the other side of the world?” he asked producers.

“We do now!” they said.

A week later the youngster was on his way to Santa Barbara in California, where he impressed the musical icons with his rendition of Lewis Capaldi’s Forget Me.

Admitting his venture into songwriting at the age of 7 was a mechanism to cope with being bullied, the rising star found his “tribe” in musical theatre and hasn’t looked back.

“I was very much in that world from pretty young. But through my experiences of bullying throughout most of my early schooling, I came home one day and I just wrote my very first song,” he revealed.

“I found it so healing to be able to come home and put pen to paper, and express those emotions.”

Now a confident young man with the world at his feet, he admitted stepping in front of his idols for the first time was daunting.

“It didn’t really feel real. I honestly felt like I was walking through Madame Tussaud’s or something,” he recalled.

Following appearances on The Voice and Junior Eurovision in his younger years, Anthony is hoping to ride this new opportunity as far as he can.

But with family and connection at the heart of his journey through music, it’s not been easy keeping it to himself.

The first episode of the new season of American Idol drops on 7plus on Thursday.