Watch Texas singer floor ‘Idol’ judges with stirring performance. ‘I’m speechless’

An 18-year-old Texas student earned a standing ovation from ‘American Idol’ judges after a powerful rendition of blues classic ”Strange Fruit.”

“Music is my life,” Douglas Mills, of Houston, said during the March 20 episode. And it’s an escape.

“I’ve been called ‘gorilla,’ ‘King Kong.’ People said you can’t be that person that you want to be. It was very painful,” Mills said, adding that the self-doubt those people gave him still lingers.

But after he sang the Billie Holiday song, there was no doubt among the judges that the young man from Houston has a gift that needs to be heard.

“I blanked out, passed out, and woke up,” Lionel Richie said. “You don’t need pop charts, [or] R&B charts, you’re off the charts. In fact, you might create a chart of your own.”

Katy Perry, who was on her feet the moment Mills stopped singing, called him a “superstar.”

“You transcend time and space,” Perry said. “You froze the room.”

Luke Bryan struggled to find the words to express himself: “I’m speechless about it.”

Young as he is, American Idol contestants as young as 15 can compete. Given his talent, Perry asked Mills why he hadn’t auditioned sooner.

“People have always told me I’m not good enough,” he said.

With their unanimous approval, Mills will be moving on to the next stage of the competition in Hollywood.

“I’ve never really left the state, or been on an airplane,” he said. “This is my shot.”