Allegra Miles on ‘American Idol’: Live vote sends singer home, more on her West Palm Beach background

Update: On Sunday night’s episode of ‘American Idol,’ live voting results revealed that West Palm Beach resident Allegra Miles was one of three contestants eliminated from the competition.

Miles sang Billie Eilish’s “ocean eyes.” The 19-year-old started at the piano and stood up halfway through the song, a move judges praised.

“That is why we saved you right there,” said judge Luke Bryan.

Judge Katy Perry called Miles incredibly talented, adding that she hoped “America does not make the same mistake.”

Read more about Miles' experience on the singing competition and her ties with West Palm Beach's music scene below.

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Allegra Miles didn’t see the question, tucked away on Instagram under the message requests tab.

But a month or so later, she said, there it still sat, awaiting an answer that would put her on stage singing her own songs to strangers: Did she want to come audition for ‘American Idol’?

The 19-year-old West Palm Beach resident wasn’t initially sure. Miles competed on NBC’s ‘The Voice’ in 2020 and said she hadn’t considered doing another show, “mostly because my focus has always been my writing and my music versus just singing.”

But after learning she could perform original music, she arrived at her answer.

“Why wouldn’t I take this opportunity that’s in front of me...?”

On Monday night’s episode, Miles earned a spot among this season’s top 14 contestants. She learned during the live production that she hadn’t been voted into the top 10, which would have secured her spot in the competition. Instead, as audiences watched, a microphone was quickly brought on stage and she began to sing her original song “Tainted” in the hopes that the judges would choose her to continue on.

Judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan moved her forward in the competition, just as they had the first time she sang the song to them at her in-person audition in Nashville. She had written it just about a month before "from one of the worst experiences of my life," she said.

“Everything about you is looking like an artist,” Bryan said at the audition.

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Allegra Miles on West Palm Beach’s music scene: ‘I can’t say enough good things’

When her audition aired, she watched along with friends and local musicians at Grandview Public Market in West Palm Beach.

“It was cool because it wasn’t just a watch party. It was like a huge jam,” she said.

Miles isn’t new to the music scene in West Palm Beach, though she thinks a lot of people who live in town might be.

“I can’t say enough good things about it, especially because it’s like underground,” she said. “I feel like honestly a lot of people even who live in West Palm don’t necessarily know about the music scene.”

She said she’s involved with Soul Fam, what she called a network of creatives in South Florida who write, sing, rap and perform spoken word.

“I’m just super inspired continually by everyone in West Palm,” she said.

Allegra Miles' journey from 'The Voice' to 'American Idol'

Miles moved to the city about seven years ago, switching around schools in the area.

When she first moved, she attended Watson B. Duncan Middle School, followed by Florida Virtual School and then Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts for a year.

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She switched to online school for 10th grade and continued with it while she took part in a professional training program at Maltz Jupiter Theatre. She said the program included singing, dancing of different styles, acting and stage combat.

“At that time, my focus was musical theater,” she said. “That’s really what I wanted to do.”

But she said her "burning desire" to write songs steered her in her current direction.

“If someone can connect with something I write or sing and feel less alone, that’s really what it’s about,” she said of her goals.

Miles said she’d eventually like to go on tour, whether that would be opening for someone with her band or heading her own tour.

What’s next for Allegra Miles on ‘American Idol’

Audiences only catch a handful of hours of the show every week, but Miles stays busy even when the cameras aren’t around.

On Monday night, she learned she’d keep competing. By 8 a.m. the next day, she was back at rehearsal.

She said behind the scenes, contestants prepare for multiple weeks ahead, even though they may be eliminated. And then there's the wardrobe fitting, the on-stage camera blocking, the time taken to figure out arrangements with the 'Idol' band.

Miles said the experience has been crazy but beautiful.

This week’s elimination will be live, she said, meaning audiences have to vote during the show rather than overnight so that results will be announced by the show’s end.

Miles, who performed her own arrangement of “ocean eyes” by Billie Eilish, was eliminated Sunday night as the show moved from 14 to 11 singers.

How to watch Allegra Miles on 'American Idol'

"American Idol" airs Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. Stream episodes on ABC.com or Hulu.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 'American Idol's' Allegra Miles on songwriting, West Palm music scene