Jena Irene

Jena Irene Asciutto, who performs as Jena Irene, is a pop singer and songwriter whose smoky voice led her to a runner-up finish on American Idol's 13th season. Hailing from Farmington Hills, Michigan in suburban Detroit, she was in a band called Infinity Hour in her early to mid-teens before auditioning for the TV talent show at the age of 17. A fan of bands including Paramore and Incubus, she sang Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" for her Detroit audition, which aired in January 2014. She advanced with the unanimous approval of judges Harry Connick, Jr., Jennifer Lopez, and Keith Urban. Asciutto went on to finish a spot behind Caleb Johnson, and signed a record deal with Detroit's Original 1265 Recordings. The label released her debut EP, Innocence, in 2016, and it landed on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. ~ Marcy Donelson