The Eurythmics' Dave Stewart's daughter auditions for American Idol this season

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American Idol has had its share of what people nowadays deridingly call “nepo-babies.” Last season, we had Ava Maybee, the daughter of Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, and Zaréh, daughter of Idol Season 4 top eight finalist Nadia Turner. This season, we’ve already had Haven Madison (whose father, Jason Roy, fronts Grammy-nominated Christian band Building 429); Lyric Medeiros (daughter of adult contemporary crooner Glenn “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You” Medeiros); Cay Aliese (daughter of late America’s Got Talent/The Voice contestant Nolan Neal); and McKayla Stacey, who was “literally born into Idol” when her dad, Season 6 finalist Phil Stacey, tried out for the show while her mom was giving birth to her.

But Season 23 definitely saved the biggest second-generation superstar for last, when 22-year-old Kaya Stewart arrived Sunday with her Rock & Roll Hall of Famer father, Dave Stewart.

Yes, the Dave Stewart. “My dad was in a band called the Eurythmics,” Kaya mentioned casually, as if the Eurythmics were some obscure, underground act. Dave Stewart is a new wave legend!

But Dave has always just been “Dad” to Kaya. “When I was born, my dad was on tour, and I was going to shows when I was still in my mom’s tummy,” she stated. “The musician’s lifestyle is something that’s just been part of my life. There was never a question of what I wanted to do with my life. [Music] was always going to be what I was going to do.”

When the elder Stewart showed up Sunday to accompany his rising singer-songwriter daughter on guitar, he claimed that his Idol appearance was “more difficult than being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” and he did seem genuinely, even kind of adorably nervous. But Dave actually has several past ties to the show. American Idol’s creator and original executive producer, Simon Fuller, has managed Eurythmics frontwoman Annie Lennox for many years; Dave was in a considerably shorter-lived and less successful duo, the semi-fictional TV band Platinum Weird, with former Idol judge Kara DioGuardi; and current Idol judge Lionel Richie was inducted into the Rock Hall’s Class of 2022 alongside Eurythmics. (I will take a moment here to note that the TV talent competition Dave created, NBC’s Songland, absolutely should have been renewed for a third season. Perhaps ABC can reboot that show as well.)

Center Idol judge Katy Perry understandably pointed out that Kaya is a nepo-baby (although she didn’t use that actual rude term, of course), flat-out asking Kaya: “With all your different opportunities and connections and stuff, how did you even land on American Idol?” Kaya claimed that she came to Idol, which Lionel claimed is “now a creative destination for artists,” to showcase her original music. OK, then.

All healthy skepticism aside, I must admit that Kaya’s original, “This Tattoo,” was impressive — although she did have the advantage of co-writing it with her father, whose strong track record includes not only many Eurythmics classics but also massive hits like Tom Petty’s “Don't Come Around Here No More,” Shakespears Sister’s “Stay,” and No Doubt’s “Underneath It All.” But Kaya didn’t just inherit her dad’s talent — she had a pretty, sparkling vocal tone that was all her own (albeit influenced by her dad's musical partner and her childhood mentor, the above-mentioned Lennox).

Lionel said Kaya “slayed” her audition, and Luke Bryan told her, “You can tell that you’ve grown up around the stage, on the stage.” Katy did warn Kaya that she and her fellow judges would “probably be a bit more nitpicky” with her and would "push her to her limit — and probably past it,” specifically because Kaya had so much more experience that most of the series’ green, untrained newbies. But Kaya was totally fine with with the judges going hard on her, so this sister will soon be doin’ it for herself, without her dad, in Hollywood. Her sweet Idol dreams are made of this.