“American Idol” has a new girl now, and she’s the daughter of a Honeymoon Suite guitarist.

On last week’s episode of the long-running series, 20-year-old singer/guitarist Leah Marlene made it to the show’s “Final 24.” Her father Derry Grehan, born in St. Catharines for the group Niagara Falls, which had several huge hits in the 80s, joined her for the news.

Although born in Toronto, Marlene says she makes several visits to Niagara with her father.

“I come to Niagara often and have a lot of family there,” she said in a phone call Friday.

Although pressed for time — it was a busy day of preparations as she prepares to take to the “American Idol” main stage for the first time — the infectious singer recalls the days when she was a child in the her father’s basement, amazed by his guitars. She was raised in a “rock environment”, watching old music videos of her father during the heyday of Honeymoon Suite.

“It makes me so hot inside watching them,” she says.

Honeymoon Suite broke out in 1984 with the single “New Girl Now” (which Grehan wrote) and its Niagara Falls-themed video. A series of Canadian hits followed, including “Wave Babies”, “Feel It Again” and “What Does it Take”.

During the April 4 episode “Showstoppers,” Grehan waited outside while Marlene learned of her fate on the show from judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. Previously, she performed a catchy version of “Larkin Poe”He’s a Self Made Man.”

After breaking her into a sweat, Perry told her she had made the cut.

“Can we kiss, is it allowed?” said an ecstatic Marlene.

When contacted on Friday, proud dad Grehan said he never pushed his daughter to pursue music, but he had a feeling she would.

“You never really know which direction your kids are going to go,” he said. “They can change their minds. So we just supported her passion and let her make her own decisions.

“Fortunately, she loves making music and we are where we are today. I think I always knew she would choose this path and we are incredibly proud of her. She has been at it for years.”

Marlene, who grew up in Toronto and now lives in Normal, Illinois, says she considered pursuing hockey but ultimately couldn’t resist a guitar in her hands. She says she was surprisingly not nervous during the early rounds of “American Idol,” but being in the Final 24, “now it’s real.”

A longtime fan of the show – and of Katy Perry – she said it was “surreal and so normal at the same time”.

She added that her near future is a “mystery”, depending on how far she will go on the show, but plans to “write off my tushy” for an upcoming album.

“American Idol” airs Sundays and Mondays on ABC.

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