‘American Idol’ Dedicates the Top Five Performances to Carrie Underwood
Not only did Underwood lend the contestants some advice for this week's performances, but she also sang her empowering single, "Cry Pretty," on the live broadcast.
It’s been a whopping 13 years since Carrie Underwood took home the crown as the next American Idol back in 2005. Ever since she earned the title, the singer blazed her own trail through country music and became a queen in her own right among many other talents in the genre.
Because of her great legacy left upon the show, American Idol called her back into the mix to provide some mentoring for the top five contestants left on the reality competition show. Each of the potential singers also found out that they would have to channel Underwood’s vocals as they would be singing her hits for this next week of the season.
Underwood gave each of the singers a few tips at the Bluebird Café in Nashville before they flew back to Los Angeles for the live shows. Gabby Barrett took Underwood’s spirit to heart as she embodied the strength and soul within to burst into a fiery performance of “Last Name.” Her power worked the crowd, and the judges, just enough for Luke Bryan to even claim Barrett as “Carrie Underwood reincarnated.”
Although Caleb Lee Hutchinson knows his country music, he seemed a bit nervous taking on “So Small” by Underwood. He tried to weigh heavily on his stage persona confidence, which the judges complimented his authenticity greatly. But even they recognized that Hutchinson’s vocals don’t always compare to the physicality of his fellow contestants, leaving him with an unsure feeling in his gut about moving on.
Maddie Poppe shined bright on her rendition of “I Told You So,” while Cade Foehner and Michael J. Woodard did their best during the week of Underwood. Nevertheless though, the results came in following all of the live performances from the night to show that Poppe, Barrett and Hutchinson would be moving on as the final three on this season.
Not only did Underwood advise on this week’s episode, but she also got her chance to return to the stage as well with an empowering performance of her current single, “Cry Pretty.” Inspiring the last three singers to follow in her footsteps, Underwood held nothing back when returning to her series alma mater.
American Idol broadcasts new episodes every Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
