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As if just making it on American Idol isn’t impressive enough, contestant Lindita Halimi lost 150 lbs. to prepare for her audition.

The singer from Kosovo wowed the judges during the second round of auditions Wednesday night, with judge Jennifer Lopez remarking, “She sings like a heavy girl,” in approval.

Fellow judge Harry Connick Jr. agreed, adding, “Yeah, she didn’t lose that part.”

Halimi, 26, says she faced criticism for her size back in Kosovo.

“In my hometown when I started singing a lot of people were like, oh she has a nice voice, but she’s really fat,” Halimi recounts. “And when you’re a teenager that does touch you emotionally a lot. So it came to the point where I was like, I can make a change for myself and I can do better for myself.”

With the help of a personal trainer, who she later married, Halimi says she dropped the weight with, “a lot of working out, a lot of dieting.”

“It was not an easy journey, you know. You have to work for it.”

And now she’s a personal trainer herself.

“I love to be a part of somebody else’s transformation,” Halimi says.

Halimi won the judges praises with her performance of “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown, earning a ticket to Hollywood for the show’s farewell season.

Judge Keith Urban praised her for putting her entire body into the performance.

“She sings with every part [of her body] too, which I love.”

  • The reality star, 31, lost 40 lbs. thanks to daily workouts. "You feel good from the inside out," she told PEOPLE. "It's not about what size I am, it's about how I feel."
  • "It's hard as heck to lose weight after 40, but it's so worth it," said the director, 46. "It keeps the doctor away."
  • Over the past three years, the 5'11" talk show host, 51, lost 50 lbs. after eliminating meat, refined sugars and dairy from her diet.
  • The singer, 27, has lowered her sugar intake but refuses to completely cut out carbs. "I'd never deprive myself like that!" she said.
  • The TV producer, 45, said yes to weight loss, dropping more than 100 lbs. after struggling to buckle her seat belt on a plane.
  • "I [lost weight] the same way everybody has to – don't eat and exercise more!" said the Star Wars actress, 59.
  • The Trumbo star, 63 – who once weighed 400 lbs. – gave up sugar and alcohol and works out six days a week.

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KHLOÉ KARDASHIAN

The reality star, 31, lost 40 lbs. thanks to daily workouts. “You feel good from the inside out,” she told PEOPLE. “It’s not about what size I am, it’s about how I feel.”