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La’Porsha Renae Gets Votes From Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, And More For ‘American Idol’ Finale

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 22:05 PST, Apr 6, 2016

La’Porsha Renae has some famous voices in her corner. The American Idol Top 2 finalist moved several Idol alums to vote for her to win the show’s final season—including the very first American Idol winner, who has never voted before!

After La’Porsha Renae belted out her final songs in the American Idol competition, Kelly Clarkson took to Twitter to reveal she has never voted in the TV talent competition before, but that she was voting for Renae now.

Clarkson, who famously won the inaugural season of American Idol and went on to become one of the show’s biggest success stories, also added that the show started out with a female winner and it should end with one.

Idol alum Melinda Doolittle echoed Clarkson’s sentiments about La’Porsha, writing that if Kelly wanted Renae as bookend, who was she to deny that.

And American Idol season 2 winner Ruben Studdard also said he was moved to vote for La’Porsha, despite having not voted in the competition since Fantasia Barrino competed in it way back in Idol’s third season in 2004.

La’Porsha Renae’s other celeb supports include NSYNC’s Lance Bass, Dancing With the Stars pro dancer Allison Holker, and Big Brother 15 winner Andy Herren.

La’Porsha Renae ended her long Idol journey with three powerful performances, including a cover of Dionne Warwick’s 1964 classic, “A House is Not a Home,” which had judge Jennifer Lopez admitting La’Porsha had an edge over competitor Trent Harmon.

But when La’Porsha came out later to belt out Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Judge Harry Connick Jr. asked the 22-year-old finalist who she was thinking of when she sang the Sia-written song, and Renae said, “My baby, Nayalee.” La’Porsha Renae’s two-year-old daughter was in the audience.

And for her coronation song, Renae sang “Battles,” which was written by Who is Fancy. Fancy (real name Jake Hagood) told Billboard that La’Porsha sang “the fire” out of his song.

“She sings the fire out of that song. I cried like a baby listening to her because the song is so meaningful to me, and to know that someone like La’Porsha can put her story into it goes to the testament of the song. Everyone has a battle.”

Indeed, La’Porsha has been very vocal about her own personal battles, including her history as a domestic abuse survivor, her life as a single mother, and now her journey on American Idol.

After Renae performed the Mary J. Blige hit “No More Drama” earlier this season, she told Entertainment Tonight that she had come out of an abusive relationship right before she auditioned for American Idol.

“I got out of the relationship in April and then I came straight to Idol in June of last year, so it’s been fast-paced, learning song after song and singing week after week. I never really just sat down and sunk my teeth into the fact that I was there. So, to face the pain that I’ve been through was a whole different thing and America kind of forced me to do that this week.”

As for who she has voted for as an American Idol fan, La’Porsha has been quick to tor her love for Adam Lambert. While Lambert didn’t win his season of the show, he is one of the most successful post-Idol success stories, proving you don’t have to win the TV singing competition to be a winner.

“I voted for Adam! My whole family. We had three phones each, we voted for him every way we could…How do you get better, Adam? Come on, now. And then he has the nerve to have that high-pitched voice, you know, throwing out all kind of Whitney Houston notes and all that. I’m a woman and I can’t get that high!”

Take a look at the video below to see La’Porsha Renae’s killer American Idol performance of the song “Diamonds.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI9hqTEMcKY

[Photo By Emma McIntyre/Getty Images]

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