17-year-old Tyson Venegas, a high school student from Metro Vancouver, has advanced in the American Idol competition. (Image credit: Instagram/tysonvenegas)

There were high expectations for the high school student from Metro Vancouver, who kicked off the season by earning a coveted platinum ticket when he first auditioned for American Idol.

His cover song “New York State Of Mind” gave him lavish praise for his performance.

Seventeen-year-old Tyson Venegas looked on nervously as he waited to learn if he’d made it to American Idol’s top 24 after telling the judges he knew his last performance was not his best.

Venegas chose to sing Lizzo’s “Cuz I Love You.” After his performance, the judges noted he had forgotten some of the lyrics and failed to hit some notes.

“We don’t think you’re destined for the top 24,” Katie Perry told the visibly crestfallen teen.

“We think it’s more like top 10,” she added, as the camera captured Venagas’ eyes widening in surprise as he broke out into a grin.

Before sitting down to learn his fate, Venegas said he was “really scared,” partly because he’d seen some of his newfound friends sent home.

He also noted that his nerves had gotten the better of him during the Showstoppers portion of the competition, which sees contestants perform on stage backed by a full band for the first time.

When he sat down with Perry, Lionel Ritchie and Luke Bryan he explained that he felt a lot of pressure to live up to their expectations.

“I practice the song a lot. And I knew it from the back of my head. But when I went on stage, and I sang it, it just wasn’t there,” Venegas said.

“I was so mad at myself after like I was so angry,” he added.

While the judges agreed that his last performance had fallen short, they also encouraged him to take it easy on himself and chalk it up to a learning experience.

“Maybe you can let go of some of that pressure,” Perry said. “That is a part of life. It’s how you learn. You’re 17, you’re so young, and you’ve got so much learning still ahead of you. Don’t beat yourself up.”

After promising to do better at his next performance, Venegas left the room and ran to hug his mom in celebration, and the pair jumped up and down in apparent delight.

“I still can’t believe it,” he said.