Maddie Poppe Shares Her 'American Idol' Story One Year After Her First Audition

Maddie Poppe is looking back on her first American Idol audition, exactly one year later as auditions for the new season kick off.

The reigning champ shared her cute story on Instagram this week with fans.

“8/29/17. A day that I never thought would change my entire life,” Maddie started. “Waiting for hours in line, intimidated by everyone around me, I never thought I could do it. Once again, I was preparing to hear the biggest NO in my life. I had it instilled in my mind that this was never going to work out.”

She continues, “If someone would have told me I had even a slight chance of winning the show I would have never believed it. I’m endlessly grateful for the producer who I owe so much to, who believed in me from the first time he saw me.”

“I think every day about how easy it would have been for him to say ‘thanks, try again next year’, but he saw something in me I’d always wished someone would see. For every ‘no’ I’d ever heard, or every time someone didn’t call me back, or every promise someone in this industry didn’t keep, or every time I wasn’t ‘up-to-par’ with someone’s expectations, little did I know all of those small, saddening but unimportant moments would lead up to this.”

Maddie adds, “This one, simple, ordinary ‘yes’ that would change my life forever. Thank you, @jridgard for giving me this opportunity, for getting the ball rolling, allowing me to start this incredible journey and for changing my life.”