Not everyone left disappointed.

Drake Johnson, a strapping 16-year-old from Florence, South Carolina, carried his acoustic guitar and the hopes of his family and friends into the auditions.

His mother, Sherry Nordine, beamed after learning that her baby would be moving on to the next round.

"I'm so very happy for him," she said, choking back tears. "It's been a long road and this is a gift that is just in him."

Drake said he hadn't really watched "Idol" last season until one day he was in his room and heard Kris Allen, who ultimately won the competition, perform "Heartless."

The teen obviously hoped for some of Allen's good fortune to spill over to him as Johnson chose to perform both "Heartless" and Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours."

"Kris Allen, he's like my style," said Johnson, who like the "American Idol" champion performs with his church. "I definitely want a career in music."

"Kris Allen, he's like my style," said Johnson, who like the "American Idol" champion performs with his church. "I definitely want a career in music."

Elyria High singer wins ‘Idol’ competition at Disney World

Chronicle-Telegram Staff

ELYRIA - Missy Long was just hoping to have one last fun time with her high school friends and relax on vacation during the Elyria High School Madrigal Singers’ annual trip to Disney World.

But after musical director Mark Jessie stumbled upon the American Idol Experience - which opened in March - Long ended up putting in more work than she expected by the trip’s end.

Each day, 400 park-goers get the chance to audition for 21 spots in seven live shows. The winners of those shows compete against one another in a final show every evening and the audience of about 1,000 people votes for the winner.

The day before the group was scheduled to return to Ohio, Long was not only chosen to take the stage, but the audience voted her the day’s winner after her rendition of “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s “Pocahontas.”

“It was so crazy. I didn’t expect it at all,” Long said. “When I went into it, I thought it will be fun - I might not get very far - but we’ll see what happens.”

The win earned her an American Idol Dream Ticket, which gives Long - a 2009 graduate of EHS - the opportunity to schedule an audition at any regional American Idol audition site for the next 10 years, or until she no longer meets the show’s requirements.

One reason Long has never auditioned for the show is the long lines of thousands of hopefuls, so she’s excited about getting to go straight to the front of the line.

“That is partly why I didn’t want to audition,” Long said. “I would hate to wait in that huge line and not make it.”

But with her ticket in hand, Long won’t have to wait at all when she decides to audition - which she thinks she may do next year.

And while “Colors of the Wind” is one of her favorite Disney songs and is the song that got her this far, she thinks she will sing The Beatles’ “Oh! Darling” - which is the song she sang to advance at Disney - for the judges.

Another of the group’s singers - Jen Howser - won a preliminary round a day before Long but placed third in that night’s final due to some very strong competition.

“Her competition was unbelievable,” Jessie said. “The guy who won that night was as good as anybody I’ve in the finals of the TV show.”

Three other singers from the Madrigals were selected to perform in the preliminaries, and with their success, Jessie said the group will definitely be going back to try to get more singers through for as long as the American Idol Experience exists.

“Now that we know it’s there and know the procedure, we can give kids a heads-up,” he said.