'American Idol' recap: Youth rules on night two of auditions

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Youth ruled on night two of auditions for the final season of “American Idol.”

A total of 14 golden tickets were handed out in San Francisco and Little Rock — many to singers who were still in diapers when Kelly Clarkson won the first competition in 2002.

Few show more promise than 15 year-old high school sophomore Tristan McIntosh.

The Nashville teen gave judge Jennifer Lopez the “goosies” with her cover of Mickey Guyon’s “Why Baby Why.”

But the night’s most memorable moment came when Harry Connick Jr. read an email from Tristan’s mother who had been stationed overseas in the military.

In true “Idol” fashion, mom quickly emerged from behind a curtain as even Keith Urban couldn’t help but shed a few tears.

Tristan, who attends performing arts high school in Tennessee, has both the musical chops and likability to make it quite far in the competition.

But she could face some competition from these young hopefuls:

Olivia Rox, 15

The daughter of jazz musician Warren Hill impressed the judges with both her captivating version of the Bruno Mars hit, “When I Was Your Man.”  “You are an extraordinarily talented kid,”  Connick praised.  Fun fact:  Olivia made it to the Vegas rounds of “America’s Got Talent” in 2013.

Dalton Rapattoni, 19

Dalton works as a vocal coach at an after school program near his home in Dallas.  None of the judges expected to hear him perform “The Phantom of The Opera” using an acoustic guitar.  “You took this famous Andrew Lloyd Weber song and sang it like you wanted to sing it,” Connick said.  “I dug it, man.”

Cameron Richard, 15

The young Paul McCartney look-alike was born with a cleft palette leaving doctors to fear he would never be able to sing.  His spin on Ed Sheeran’s “Gimme Love” proved they were wrong.  “You have a lot of passion when you sing,” J. Lo told him  “It felt really good to me.”

Also keep an eye on:

La’Porsha Renae, 22

The single mom from McComb, Mississippi has been living in a shelter since escaping domestic abuse.  But it took just a few notes into Radiohead’s “Creep” to realize her voice is much bigger than her backstory.