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West Chester native on ‘American Idol’

Wire photo Amy Lang, 27, of West Chester, appeared on American Idol on the Fox network, Tuesday, Jan. 19.

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By Dave Greber, Staff Writer Updated 12:26 AM Wednesday, January 20, 2010

WEST CHESTER TWP. — Trustee George Lang was a proud papa Tuesday night, Jan. 19, as he watched his daughter perform in front of the infamous “American Idol” judges and guest judge Shania Twain.

Lakota East High School grad Amy Marie Lang, now 27, of New York City, didn’t receive the coveted golden ticket to perform during the contest portion of the hit show, but you would have never known speaking to her father and mother, Debbie.

“What I saw was Amy being Amy,” George Lang said. “She’s a powerful person, a remarkable person. She really had fun with it.”

Amy made it through four audition stages prior to appearing before the celebrity judges.

“I’m excited to meet Ryan,” Amy said on the show. “We have a history,” she laughed before admitting she had an inappropriate dream about Idol Host Ryan Seacrest.

She told Seacrest he was shorter than she remembered (in her dream).

Amy sang “Dr. Feelgood” by Aretha Franklin. The judges liked her personality and enjoyed her performance, but her attempt at comedy discouraged them from giving her a golden ticket to the Hollywood round of the competition. The judges stopped her before she was able to finish the song.

George and Debbie said their phone has been ringing constantly since the portion aired after 8:30 p.m.

“I am on cloud nine,” said Debbie, who traveled to Chicago with Amy for the singing, interviewing and other rituals that proceed the actual taping.

But when it came time for Amy to perform before Simon Cowell and the other judges, the whole family showed up, even her grandfather.

“We were literally outside the door talking to Ryan Seacrest,” Debbie said of the experience in the Windy City. “It was so much waiting.”

“I should have sang something serious but I thought it was so fun I would stand out,” Amy told Seacrest after the audition. George said despite his daughter’s strong voice, she may have entered the competition with a deficiency.

“She didn’t have a sad story,” he said laughing. “Everybody who got the golden ticket had a sad story.”

In addition to Lakota East, Amy is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where she majored in drama. She has lived in New York for the past year, and is endeavoring to become an actress. Debbie said she had her first role in an off-Broadway play in December.

Asked where her daughter got her talent, Debbie was stumped.

“We can’t figure that out,” she said. “There’s nobody in our family that has a voice worth listening to.”

Staff Writer Mandy Gambrell contributed to this report.

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