Despite hearing loss in both ears, recent high school graduate Angie Miller from Beverly, MA had no problem listening to her heart which told her to follow her dream of being a singer-it's taken her to the top 10 of American Idol so far...

Beverly’s Angie Miller is living her dream.

The 19-year-old vocalist postponed college, even surgery, to make it to the Top 10 on Fox’s “American Idol” last week. (The show airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. on WFXT, Ch. 25).

“Honestly, I graduated high school, and a few weeks later, went to the cattle call for ‘Idol,’ ” Miller told the Herald. “I didn’t accept any of my scholarships. ‘Idol’ is what I wanted to do.”

The 2012 graduate of Beverly High School also has delayed a medical procedure that could improve her hearing.

“I’ve struggled with hearing problems my whole life,” said Miller, who has 20 percent hearing loss in her right ear and 40 percent loss in her left. “Eventually, after all this is over, I’m going to need a skin graft surgery to get my eardrum back.”

Miller’s gamble seems to be paying off. She has received praise from all of the “Idol” judges, and even left Keith Urban misty-eyed with her rendition of Beyonce’s “I Was Here” on Thursday.

“The trumpets just sound when you walk in the room, little girl,” judge Nicki Minaj said after one of Miller’s performances last week. “Can I just get your album? … I love what you do, and I love you do not stray too far from who you are.”

The North Shore teen already has made some gutsy choices in the competition. She sang an original song during Hollywood week and opted for a track from Season 11 contestant Colton Dixon.

“I just want to show America right now who I am as an artist,” she said. “I definitely want to have a piano-based album. I like very edgy, almost melancholy songs. I will never, ever sing a song that doesn’t have a good meaning. It’s very much my style.”

She was exposed to music at a young age.

“I grew up in a musical family. It was very easy to get that musical gene,” said Miller, who added piano to her repertoire in junior high school.

Her brother Jon, 20, plays in a Christian rock band, Exiting the Fall. Her father, Guy, also plays piano, and her mother, Tana, plays guitar.

Miller gained performance experience early on at 
Remix Church, where both her parents are pastors, and in school plays and musicals.

Of being in Los Angeles, she said, “It feels like I’m off at college. I love it. It’s my first time being on my own, doing something that I love.”