2 B.C. teens win golden ticket to American Idol

Two B.C. teens are on their way to Hollywood after winning golden tickets from their first auditions for the reality TV singing competition American Idol.

Eshan Sobti, 17, from Mission in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, sang Half a Man by Dean Lewis to judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, earning him a trip to Los Angeles for the next round of auditions.

"I never thought in a million years that I'd be able to audition in front of those judges ... and just dreaming about being on that stage. It's crazy that I got to do it," he told CBC's On the Coast.

Sobti says he's been singing his whole life but was inspired to send his tape into the show after he watched Lauren Spencer-Smith, a Nanaimo based teen, become a contestant on the show two years ago.

"That's when I saw a way I can actually do this too," he said.

He says Perry told him she likes the "cry in his voice" and Richie told him he had "one of the clearest voices" he'd ever heard.

"Which was a really big compliment coming from him, it really surprised me," he said.

Cameron Whitcomb, an 18-year-old from Kamloops who also nabbed a golden ticket to Hollywood says it still doesn't feel real.

"I'm losing my mind," he told CBC Radio.

Whitcomb says the original audition was on Oct. 7, but the episodes are only airing now.

To find out what happens next, people will have to tune in to the Sunday show — which airs at 8 p.m. ET on Citytv and ABC, and streams online on Citytv — although Sobti says he will be providing updates on his Instagram.

"I've grown up with all my friends and all my family and they've always known that I love music and it's just so cool to be able to share this with them and go on my journey and they get to watch as well," he said.

Whitcomb, a pipeline worker, says he has a singing coach now and hopes there will be more performing in his future.

"It felt really good being out there and that's what I want to do."