Before she won the fourth season of American Idol, sold 85 million records, toured the world, and won eight Grammy Awards, Carrie Underwood was just contestant 14887 when she walked into auditions for the show’s fourth season.
The country singer, who brings her expertise to the judges’ table on the upcoming 23rd season of the talent competition, looked back at the time she sang for the panel of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson in a new video from the ABC reality series.
The then curly-haired Underwood performed “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt. Her vocals were an immediate hit with the judges, but she wasn’t sure, because Cowell stopped her before she’d even gotten through the chorus. See her audition at about two minutes into the video below.
“Okay, that was very good,” Cowell said in the abrupt manner he was known for on Idol and, nowadays, on America’s Got Talent.
Then Jackson asked Underwood for her favorite singer, and she replied it was country star Martina McBride.
“I was saying to someone the other day,” Cowell said, “‘I’m surprised that we haven’t found a good country singer in this competition yet.’ I think you’re very good.”
That had to be a relief to Underwood, who said she had heard that Cowell wasn’t a fan of her preferred genre.
“One of the executive producers at the time, was like, ‘You know, Simon hates country music, right?’ And I was like, ‘Yes.'” It had even affected Underwood’s choice of song, she said. “I thought maybe if I sang ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me,’ it would kind of still be me and a song that I knew and loved.”
Carrie Underwood in 2023. Mike Coppola/WireImage
She appreciated that Cowell had also told her to, as she heard it, “keep being me” rather than dismissing her for her chosen genre.
“I feel like he deserves a lot of credit for that,” she said, “instead of being like, ‘I don’t like country music. This isn’t what I wanna listen to,’ he saw a country artist and the value that country music has.”
The “Blown Away” singer had no idea how she had the confidence to audition.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
“I was a baby!” Underwood said.
The artist teared up as she read from a journal that she kept at that young age.
“Obviously, it’s overwhelming,” she said. “But you’re gonna do fine, kid! You’re gonna be okay. Just hold on.”
Underwood will sit alongside judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie when the new season of American Idol premieres Sunday, March 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
