WATCH: Maddie Poppe's first public performance

Courtney Crowder | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Fans, family celebrate Maddie Poppe's homecoming American Idol finalist Maddie Poppe of Clarksville, Iowa, visits her hometown to film segments for the finale of the competition.

Alert "Behind the Music," "This is Your Life" and whatever other shows trade on stars' lives before they were famous — we've found video of Maddie Poppe's first public performance.

Her hair may be a little different and her style has certainly changed, but the girl in the blue and green dress singing Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" is Poppe in the exact moment she first showed the world her talent.

Recounting that performance during Poppe's recent hometown visit for "American Idol," her sister Hannah, 22, said she teamed up with their dad to convince Poppe to sing a duet at the local craft and fine arts festival that year. The then-14-year-old Poppe begrudgingly agreed.

"We kind of forced her into it and ever since then she has kind of loved it," Hannah said.

Even though Poppe didn’t start singing publicly until this middle school performance — much later than her fellow “Idol” contestants — she was predisposed to love music.

Poppe's father, Trent Poppe, spent much of his childhood in a band, and he made Poppe and her sisters record Christmas songs as an annual gift to their grandparents. So the family knew about Poppe's talent, said her mom, Tonya Poppe, but all of her performances took place within the four walls of their house.

Looking at the shaky video, you can tell Poppe's a little nervous when the song starts, but she loosens up throughout the performance.

The moment marked not only a first for Poppe, but also a first for her tight-knit small town: It wasn't until then that they realized Poppe had that sort of gift.

“People heard her and they just stopped walking, like stopped dead in their tracks,” said Poppe's friend Emily Mennega, 21. “No one knew Maddie could sing.”

"I remember there was not a dry eye in the audience ... Maddie is just, wow, you know, she's something special," Mennega said.

As Tonya remembers it, Poppe "spellbound" the crowd. And by the time the number finished, Poppe had officially caught the performance bug.

"This big voice came out and no one really expected it," Tonya said. "That was the kind of point where she was like, 'Oh my gosh, I have something here. This is pretty cool.'"

If you listen closely to the video, you'll hear someone in the crowd unprompted say, "Wow," and whoever is taking the video says, "That was so good!"

We couldn't agree more.

WATCH BELOW:

Reporter Courtney Crowder will be tweeting the "American Idol" finale Monday night. Follow along @courtneycare and check back for more on Iowa's Idol.