Headed to Hollywood

San Marcos High sophomore and Santa Barbara Teen Star Sofia Schuster really is a golden girl!

The 16-year-old singer traveled down to Los Angeles to an audition for the latest series of the popular ABC TV series American Idol in front of local warbler Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan, and received the golden ticket to Hollywood from the tony triumvirate.

Sofia, daughter of ShelterBox USA president Kerri Murray, is a longtime performer in our Eden By the Beach, including Girls Rock and bubbly Janet Adderley‘s Youth Ensemble Theater.

The youngest performer of the current season, she sang her own original song, a controversial piece about women’s reproductive rights, with lyrics like: “My body, my choice. It’s not up to the boys.”

Richie gave her an A plus for songwriting, while Katy compared Sofia, who was born with paralyzed vocal cords and told by doctors she’d never talk, to a younger version of herself as she made it through the first round of Hollywood Week in the singer-songwriter category.

“I am thrilled for Sofia,” enthuses Kerri. “She’s an inspiration for me, not just for her achievements, but for being someone who goes after her goals and doesn’t give up.”

You go girl…