The &34;American Juniors&34; alum got her music career off the ground at age 14, releasing her first album in 2007. Keke Palmer is convinced that she could've w

The "American Juniors" alum got her music career off the ground at age 14, releasing her first album in 2007.

Keke Palmer is convinced that she could've won American Idol: 'I would've ate the damn America up'

The "American Juniors" alum got her music career off the ground at age 14, releasing her first album in 2007.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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September 16, 2025 4:38 p.m. ET

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Keke Palmer arrives at the L.A. premiere of 'The Pickup' on July 27, 2025. Credit:

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Keke Palmer has proven her vocal chops on plenty of stages (and screens), but there's at least one venue that she never got the chance to dominate.

While chatting with the multi-hyphenate performer over steamy vibes and a gauntlet of spicy wings, *Hot Ones *host Sean Evans asked Palmer which reality show she believes she could win. Without hesitation, she replied, "I know for a fact, if it was at the right time, the right era, your girl would've been an American Idol."

She continued, "Oh yeah! I would've been up there with my girl Fantasia [Barrino]. Not her season though, 'cause she would've beaten me. But I would've been up in there, I know I could've made it at some point."

Palmer, a connoisseur of reality TV, added that she's even given thought to how she would win the judges over with an emotional narrative.

Keke Palmer at the 2025 Essence Festival in New Orleans.

Aaron J. Thornton/Getty for ESSENCE

"I had a storyline," she said, before getting in character with a softer voice: "I'm from Chicago, my mom was a singer growing up, I grew up in church…"

Evans laughed, "That's right, you have a human interest element."

"You get what I mean? 'Cause you had to have that back in the day," Palmer said. "You needed that storyline. I would've ate the damn America up."

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Giving Evans a glimpse of what could've been, Palmer continued, "Oh my gosh, I would've been crying like," she then paused to perform an impression of a final riff before turning to an invisible panel of judges to say, "'Thank you. You know, I always thought I could be an American Idol.'"

Then, to Evans, she added, "And I feel like I *would've* been an American Idol."

Palmer may not have gotten a shot at the flagship show, but as a preteen, she was tapped to compete in the *American Idol *spinoff, *American Juniors*. She was recruited in 2003, but her audition scenes didn't make it to air — nor did she make the cut as one of the 20 semifinalists. But while the show was canceled after a single season, Palmer launched her music career just a few years later.

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After gaining fame for her role in *Barbershop 2: Back in Business* and breaking through with *Akeelah and the Bee*, Palmer signed a record deal with Atlantic Records, leading to her debut album, *So Uncool*. She then moved to Interscope Records and later Island Records, releasing a series of singles and mixtapes, but largely focusing on her acting career.

Keke Palmer performs at Variety's Power of Youth in Universal City, Calif., in October 2007.

Chris Polk/WireImage

The singer and actress opened up about her music industry struggles in 2023, while launching her own label, Big Bosses Entertainment, and marking the release of her sophomore album, 2023's *Big Boss*.

"It was just really stifling," she told PEOPLE of her time working with major labels. "I learned a lot of stuff just about what I really needed as an artist, which was artist development. I really spent a lot of those years figuring out what went wrong or why things weren't connecting for me as an artist. I think with labels, there isn't any artist development. A lot of times they'll try stuff to throw stuff out, then it doesn't work and it's your fault. They don't really support the artists in being able to discover how to share their voice."

She added, "I'm talented, I can sing, I can perform, I can do all that, but knowing how to present that to the world, there's still an art to that. My experience with labels taught me that I had to figure that out because they weren't able to really help me with it."

Palmer released her third album, *Just Keke*, in June 2025**

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