Carrie Underwood Gets Nostalgic and Dishes on Judging AMERICAN IDOL
By Movieguide® Contributor
Carrie Underwood got nostalgic as she returned to AMERICAN IDOL as a judge nearly 20 years after she won the show and launched her career.
“I had my Hollywood Week in this theater,” the “Jesus Take the Wheel” singer shared. “In my memory, it was so much bigger. At 21 years old, I’d never been on a plane, never seen anything quite like it. It seemed so grand and massive, and there were so many other contestants. Now I’m sitting at that judges’ table watching them. I’ll see somebody sing and think, ‘Oooh, this is the Bo Bice of this year.’ It’s impossible not to be a bit nostalgic.”
Her fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan shared the difficult initiation that Underwood had to go through: saying no to contestants.
“It was the same thing we went through: How do I say that many nos? [Carrie] was a nervous wreck,” Richie recalled. “I go home some nights going, ‘OK, how can I help this contestant?’ We get so invested in their stories and lives that we almost become the parents. We want for them to win in life.”
Bryan noted the importance of being kind, even to the contestants that do not make it to Hollywood.
“We are really careful with how we interact with these kids, not being overly harsh or critical,” he explained. “We try to offer them up positive stuff to where they can leave this experience and it’s still up for them to go make their music career happen.”
READ MORE: CARRIE UNDERWOOD CAN’T WAIT FOR HER RETURN TO AMERICAN IDOL
Now that she’s been on both sides of the table, Underwood realizes there’s a lot more to being a judge than IDOL fans might realize.
“It’s such a difference when you’re sitting at home from your couch watching it. You’re like, ‘What? That person was great!’ Or, ‘Oh my gosh, that person was terrible. I can’t believe they sent them through!'” she told EW. “You think you can talk a lot of smack at home and it’s so easy to sit up here in this chair, and it’s not. These are people’s dreams and feelings and hopes.”
Along with her role as a judge, Underwood will take fans back to her days on the show through the YouTube webseries IDOL TO ICON, which begins today, March 4.
“Let’s take a look at my journal from when I was on AMERICAN IDOL,” she shared in a teaser. She then read: “I just have to keep in mind that it will all be worth it and the life I have started will be great. Most importantly, I have to remember that this has all been my choice and it’s something I’ve wanted ever since I was a little girl. I know I have some great things ahead of me. Right now, I’m just trying to live in the moment and appreciate it all. I never dreamed that all of this would happen to me. I love it!’”
READ MORE: CARRIE UNDERWOOD’S LATEST PROJECT EXPLORES HER START ON AMERICAN IDOL
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