Eagles cheerleader Kyle Tanguay earns golden ticket on American Idol

Last season he became the Philadelphia Eagles’ first male cheerleader since 1984, and now Kyle Tanguay is headed to Hollywood on American Idol.

On Sunday’s episode, Tanguay sang Shawn Mendes’ “Mercy,” — with the support of his fellow Philly cheerleaders — and received unanimous “Yes”’s by Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Katy Perry to move on to the next round of auditions.

“Truly, words can’t even describe what it felt like to receive the approval of all three judges and be given the golden ticket. I was jumping all around and I remember running up to the judges to thank them. It just meant the world to me that they saw my potential,” Kyle said, according to the team’s official website.

“In a way, it was a similar feeling to making the Eagles Cheerleaders last year, that feeling of satisfaction that comes after achieving something so monumental. It was just amazing, and I couldn’t stop smiling.”

Tanguay was blown away by the entire squad making the trip to Washington D.C. for his audition, and talked about how close the Eagles Cheerleaders are.

“It was actually the first time my teammates heard me sing and a few of them got emotional,” Kyle said. “Seeing their reaction, I found myself not even really being worried about the outcome of my audition on American Idol. I was just so grateful to have my team there with me, to know that regardless of the outcome, I had their unconditional support. It honestly just shows the closeness of our team.”

*Updated to correct he is the first male cheerleader for the team since 1984.