Danielle Finn, the Modern Orthodox high schooler’s run on ‘American Idol’ ends

Danielle+Finn%2C+the+Modern+Orthodox+high+schoolers+run+on+%E2%80%98American+Idol%E2%80%99+ends

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content Officer

For the past few weeks, we have been following along as Danielle Finn, a Modern Orthodox high schooler brought her voice and talent to “American Idol”. But sadly, her journey has come to an end. The 17-year-old high school student from Los Angeles learned the unfortunate news during Sunday’s three-hour Top 20 reveal episode.

“That’s all right,” Danielle told Ryan Seacrest with a smile, trying to make light of the bad situation. The host thanked Danielle for being a part of the reality TV show’s 20th season, adding, “It was a pleasure meeting you. I’m sorry it didn’t go any further, but it wouldn’t be the same without you. So thank you.”

During her run on the show, we learned a lot about this young talent, including how important her faith is to her and her career. In an interview with JTA, Finn said the following:

How has your talent for singing interacted with your Jewish observance?

I’m Modern Orthodox. I love my school because it’s a place where you can learn to be your own Jew and person. For example, they let me sing the national anthem at a basketball game. It was definitely a question, because there were a lot of other religious schools there that don’t accept it [a woman singing alone in front of men]. But they made an announcement and anyone who wanted to leave the room could. They said that this was something that we do in our school and we don’t want to hide from that. So they let me sing. I think it’s super fun to be able to do that.

After The Reveal

Shortly after we learned that Finn would not continue on the show, her mother Wendy Bookbinder made the following post, which will melt your heart.

We will keep you all posted on Danielle’s next move.