North Huntingdon singer Aubrey Burchell set for 'America's Got Talent' stage

In 2018, Aubrey Burchell of North Huntingdon made it as far as the top 70 on “American Idol.”

On May 31, the 21-year-old singer will get another shot at stardom on “America’s Got Talent.”

There’s a big difference between those two experiences, said Jill Sorrels, who owned the former Keynote Cafe in Jeannette, where Burchell sang as a teen.

“With ‘American Idol,’ she went out in that big cattle call and got picked,” Sorrels said. “This time, ‘America’s Got Talent” scouted her from her videos. They sorted through a zillion people and narrowed it down and found her. I think that speaks volumes.”

Sorrels isn’t surprised.

“She’s a natural,” she said. “When she sings a song, you feel it. She brings that song to life.”

Burchell said ‘AGT’ producers found her videos on Instagram and asked her to audition.

In mid-April, she said, “They flew me out to Pasadena and put me up in a hotel, and I got to sing for the celebrity judges.”

That’s all she knows for now, and that’s about all she is allowed to say.

“I can’t really say how it went. I don’t even know yet,” she said. “Pretty much all I can say is that I had a good time and met a lot of the contestants and made some new friends.”

She’ll get more information about two weeks prior to the air date.

“If you get three ‘yeses’ (from the judges), you’re in the conversation to make it to the live shows, and then they narrow it down to 32 contestants,” she said.

Music has always been a part of her life, said Burchell, who got her start as a child singing around the area at fundraisers and other events.

At about 14, she started singing to recorded tracks at the Keynote Cafe. Sorrell suggested switching to live music — which her guitarist father, Russell Burchell, later supplied.

“Jill gave me a place to sing when I wasn’t old enough to sing in the bars,” she said.

Since her stint on “American Idol,” Burchell has been honing her talents by writing songs in the R&B and pop vein and performing on weekends at bars, wineries and other area venues. She has a job as a personal shopper at the North Huntingdon Target.

Whatever the outcome, she plans to take advantage of the exposure she’ll get from “America’s Got Talent.”

“I have a few of my original songs out there and I’m working on some more, since I have this opportunity,” she said. “Ultimately, I’d like to make a living on my original music, and be happy and comfortable doing what I love to do.”

Sorrels thinks Burchell can go far.

“She’s animated, she’s funny. She has a real talent for musical theater, too,” she said. “I think she can do whatever she wants to do with that massive voice of hers.”

Season 17 of “America’s Got Talent” kicks off at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 31 on NBC.