On Sunday night's (May 6) live episode of American Idol, country crooner Caleb Lee Hutchinson stepped on the stage with a specific purpose: make it into the Top 5. A dynamic performance of Lonestar's hit "Amazed" helped him get there.

“It's pretty gutsy to admit that you're uncomfortable with something, so good job to you,” judge Luke Bryan said after the performance. "To get in there with Nick (Jonas) and work on stuff like that, always feel that way. If you've got something that's a little hitch in your giddy-up, if you think you're not quite there with something, if you always button that stuff up, you'll always get better. You lost this weight, you've got this new body and newfound confidence — take it and roll with it.”

“I think what's really throwing you off, is that you've got these girls screaming while you're singing and it's just hard,” added fellow judge Lionel Richie. “Let me give you a little bit of advice that was given to me years ago: if you have to think about what you're doing, it's wrong. Do your natural thing.”

The feedback seemed to reinvigorate Hutchinson, who came out within the shadows of the set to sing Prince and the Revolution’s hit “When Doves Cry” with a country twang that seemed to add to the mystery of the song:

Hutchinson — a frontrunner on the show, especially for country fans — will head to Nashville this week to work with Carrie Underwood in preparation for a May 13 live show.

And while he is starting to look and sing like a big time superstar, it wasn’t too long ago that he was just a guy with a dream. “I’ve been making music for quite a few years,” he tells Taste of Country. “Once I graduated from high school, I thought I might as well go for it. I tried out during the bus tour in Atlanta and here we are!”

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