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Contestant labors through 'Idol' audition

DALLAS, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Many singers labor through their "American Idol" tryouts, but one singer was in labor at the Dallas audition site.

Hair-stylist Antornia Gillon, nine months' pregnant, went into labor as she waited with 3,500 hopefuls at Texas Stadium, Fox News reported Thursday. The 20-year-old, however, was undeterred.

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"I didn’t want to turn around after being there all those hours in the heat with people pushing," Gillon said. "So my friend helped me walk through the line. I wasn’t going to leave without singing."

Once in the audition room, the performer "gave it my all through the contractions. They were back to back and getting harder and harder but I was more than willing to have my baby right there," Gillon said. "I wasn’t leaving without my golden ticket to the next round."

A judge offered a chair to Gillon during Monday's audition. When the ambulance arrived, Gillon refused to leave, saying she wasn't finished.

Upon hearing she was still in contention, she was taken to a nearby hospital, where she had a boy, Jamil Labarron Idol McCowan. Gillon's second child arrived early Tuesday, weighing six pounds, seven ounces.

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