ESHAN Sobti, 17, of Mission is headed to Los Angeles for the next round of auditions for American Idol after he won a golden ticket from his first audition.

He dazzled judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan with his rendition of Half a Man by Dean Lewis.

“I never thought in a million years that I’d be able to audition in front of those judges … and just dreaming about being on that stage. It’s crazy that I got to do it,” he told CBC’s On the Coast.

He was inspired to send his tape into the show after he watched Lauren Spencer-Smith, a Nanaimo-based teen, become a contestant on the show two years ago.

He told the CBC that Perry told him she likes the “cry in his voice.”

Richie told him he had “one of the clearest voices” he’d ever heard. Sobto said that “was a really big compliment coming from him, it really surprised me.”