By David Fleet
Editor
Atlas Twp.-She’s back.
Township resident Genavieve Linkowski will appear for a second time on American Idol.
After falling just short in the competition about two years ago—ABC producers requested an encore performance that will air in primetime on Feb. 16.
“It’s not something I knew I would do again,” said Linkowski, following the announcement last week. “But I got a call, I prayed over it, I thought about it, I talked to my parents and I talked to a lot of people. I came to the conclusion that American Idol will be another opportunity for God’s light to shine and for my sister’s light to shine and for me to share my story. If I get to do that, I’m all in.”

Genavieve’s sister, Corinn Linkowski, 18, was in a crash on M-15 near Coolidge Road in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 13. She died four days later on Feb. 17
Linkowski earned her first American Idol Gold Ticket to Hollywood on March 19, 2018 following a stellar performance of “I Won’t Give Up,” by Jason Mraz on primetime ABC. The Hollywood week competition which aired April 1 included a solo and group auditions before the celebrity judges. Linkowski’s road to the American Idol has been ongoing for the past five years.
In April 2018, after wowing celebrity judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan in prime time on ABC “American Idol” Linkowski bid to make the top 70 contestants fell short.
“The judges are the same the second time around,” she said. “This time I’m a lot more prepared.”
Following a trip to Ford Field, on Sept. 23, 2018 to perform the National Anthem prior to the Detroit Lions football game prompted the response from ABC producers.
“I received the call from American Idol when I was in a McDonald’s parking lot in May 2019,” she said. “I was just so in a blur over my sisters death at that time I was really not thinking about ‘AI’ at all then.”
The producer had asked Linkowski if she had a contact phone number for Ford Field to contact possible American Idol contestants that may have performed the National Anthem in the past.
“Then they asked me if I’d consider a return to the show,” she said. “It just all unfolded after that.”