Get to Know ‘American Idol’ Hopeful Laci Kaye Booth
American Idol's Laci Kaye Booth let fans get to know her better on Monday night's (April 22) episode.
Here are some fun facts about the Idol contestant: Her celebrity crush? Will Ferrell. She has a weird talent she can do with her thumbs, and can do the mashed potato dance move — while even "pouring some gravy."
Booth takes us through a typical day in her life at home in Livingston, Texas. Her day begins by going to her parents' crawfish shop. "I love crawfish so much. A lot of people don't like it, because it's gross," she admits. "But It's addicting. It's so delicious. This is how I peel it. I pick off the nasty stuff off of it and then I eat it."
Booth shares that she was about 5 when she and her mother met her stepfather, who happened to be living in a barn. Booth recalls, "The first time my mom took me over there, I remember looking at her, like, he lives in a barn? Like, what? But it was the most amazing place I could have had a childhood at. Sixty acres of nothing but creeks and ponds, and it was beautiful."
Booth admits that life in Livingston has changed since Idol. "Every time I go out, people are telling me how much they're supporting me and they're giving me words of encouragement. It's awesome, it's such a blessing," Booth says.
However the changes for Booth mean that she can no longer go to Walmart in her house shoes ... she now dresses up!
Booth reveals that things went awry when she was performing a couple of years ago. As she remembers, "The night that I noticed something was wrong, I was performing and I started having really bad pain. I thought I had a kidney infection but it wasn't; it never went away. I was in and out of doctors offices or in the hospital for over a year."
But the worst part for Booth wasn't the pain. It was watching her mother go through the worry. "Watching my mom go through that more than anything was worse because she's so worried about me and she cares about me so much," she explains. "There were times where I didn't even know if I could live a normal life anymore."
There was one positive to her being at home, she even looks at being home as a "blessing," so she could write music.
Music runs in her family: Booth's father was 15 when Booth was conceived and was on the road trying to make music a career. Her mother recalls, "Laci started getting involved with music at 14, and it scared the fire out of me. But I knew that's what she wanted to do."
"I absolutely wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my mom," asserts Booth. "She has made me into the person that I am today and she has been my biggest supporter my entire life."
Booth's mother lovingly adds, "Laci loves what she does and I love seeing her do it. It's amazing to watch her get up on that stage and I know that's where she needed to be, no matter how hard it was for me to watch her do it."
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