Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Katy Perry were shown praying with an American Idol contestant, asking God to make her life "brand new" after singing Lauren Daigle's "You Say" and Andra Day's "Rise Up."

Samantha Diaz, a 20-year-old from New York who performs under the stage name Just Sam, says she started singing on subways in middle school and quickly realized "how much money (she) could make."

Diaz lives with her grandmother in the projects of Harlem. Diaz says her mother could not care for her and her sister, but her grandmother adopted them as children.

"I believe with all my heart that she is going to make it," Diaz's grandmother says in a video that was shared this weekend by American Idol.

For her audition, she sang Lauren Daigle's "You Say" but broke down crying. Daigle tried out for American Idol twice but did not make the cut as a finalist. Diaz then started singing "Rise Up," a song that came to R&B singer Andra Day while praying.

She was able to finish singing smiling.

"I am so grateful that God put you in front of us," Lionel Richie says to Diaz in the video.

Diaz prayed with the judges, saying "Lord, make my life brand-new. Right here, right now."

"We've been saved again," Katy Perry, a singer who got her start in Christian music, sings after Diaz finished praying.

Samantha Diaz will be going to the next stage of the singing contest.

We bet you can't get through Just Sam's amazing audition without crying.

Posted by American Idol on Sunday, February 16, 2020