Laughs, Tears & the In-Between — American Idol Season 9 Judges | (American Idol 2026

You want a safe word? What's our safe word, Luke? The safe word is hot chicken. Don't chicken out. Don't hot chicken out. Guys, I'm Jules. I'm 25 years old. And I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, I will be singing Bust the Windows. Out my car. Oh, goodness. That's it. I'm sorry. I think you've made the wrong decision. Oh, man. I remember swearing off TikTok and now I'm a TikToker. Is he down? I'm addicted to TikTok. I'll just go and say it if anybody wants to intervene. Oh, look at that. And now I'm actually scrolling, finding talent that somehow makes it in front of us judges. Well, tell us how you made it here. Somebody happened to see me. That's right. What's your dreams in music? I want to go from being a TikTok singer to a real singer. And I also really want a Birkin bag. Obviously, I'm learning that TikTok has filters on it to make you sound amazing. So maybe I need to go find those filters and sing all to myself. I feel like I'm hallucinating right now, honestly. Like, is this a projection? Is this AI? So I told you, you know, when we started this whole journey, you know, that you were the one for me. To be honest, whether I got a golden ticket or not, I was going to do this. And I just want you to know that, like, my journey started with you and it's going to end with you. And I promise you that. So can you say something? Yes, yes, yes. Oh, congratulations. Only on American Idol. All right, Carrie, you already got the gear on. I do, I do. Especially a tailgater. That's right. I think you should go first. OK, all right, OK. I'm going to pass the ball. Sorry, she's, I think, the abs. It's very distracting. Yeah, yeah, the abs mess it up. The abs mess it up. Well, if it's that easy to distract you, I'll just... No, no, I thought we were done. OK. It's pretty crazy. I'm not going to lie. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! He's just living his best life right now. Who is this? This is my son, my dad. Oh, boy. Hi, Miss Carrie. Hi, how are you? Did you hear your mom? Did you hear how great she did? Wow. You know, we love her. Hi, Mr. Lionel. Oh, how are you? So cool, man. Hi, Mr. Luke. Hey, buddy. You see what your mama made me do? Oh, man, when you felt confident, the way you just sang that with confidence. Oh, my goodness. Oh, we know you. What just happened? Hey. Hi. This is Emerson. You want to go sit with Carrie? Can I pick you up? Oh, that's great. You're not shy, are you? No. Did he grow up? Emerson. No, no. Today, I have about a million people with me. Oh, my God, Kyle. Oh, no. I bet he broke his table. Oh, my God. Pickle girl, pickle girl. Yeah, let's go, baby. She's the real dill. How does it feel to be pickle girl? You know, it's not who I thought I would be, but I think it's who I was born to be, and we can't always pick that. That was pretty kosher. Did you have this much confidence when you were? I remember always being confident, but then, like, my first time I did the opry and stuff, I mean, I was about to black out. Did it hit you that hard? Absolutely the same thing. Oh, my gosh. You look like my child. Here, look at this. Hold on. They could be brothers. Play a lot of music, write a lot of songs, do some fishing. What they biting on out there these days? Baby brush hog, Texas rig. Where did you get that dress? This was homemade. If this doesn't scream yee-haw, I don't know what will. That hurt. Squat in some heels when they come talk to me. I couldn't stop looking at her baby knees. Her what? Baby knees. When you have, like, a face in your knees. Oh, really? Right after Kate and William had their baby George, right? Yeah, George, yeah. My knees were in a magazine, and it was like, Prince George's face is in Carrie Underwood's knees, and I was like, what the crap is going on with my knees? And I can make him sing, too. You can make them sing? It was like, bah, bah, bah. Oh, my gosh. You are a wake-up call. Yes. Oh, that's good. That's good. Who are you? I am Makia Mustapha. I am 24 years old, and I am from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Your voice is already filling up the room. Thank you. They can hear you all the way from Pine Bluff. I know. That's what I want. Do you have the blue bag that if somebody robs the bank, you can put the blue paint in the bag, and it blows up on them? No, I wish I did. All I have is, like, bait money that has a tracker in it. I give that to them. That way, I can track them. The bait money? Yes, the bait money. Hey, I wonder if my wife has bait money on me. Uh-oh. Boom. There you go. Boom. I have an announcement. What about me? You guys, seriously, what about me? What about me? Why do you have a wine glass? Uh, you'll see. I really enjoyed it. Thank you. Yeah, you guys. Yeah, Lana. Yeah, they had that. We have this saying, there's a difference in singing and singing. And we believe she can sing. She can sing. Oh, you can't sing? No, we can't sing. What about you? I sing and I play the drums. Oh, so you got it all going on there. Okay. Something like that. He can sing. He can sing? He can sing. And you totally redeemed yourself. I never thought I would have Keri Underwood fighting for me. But hey, I guess I'm just a cowboy Casanova. It's one of her songs. Where did you rank in your class, Keri? I was salutatorian. But the only reason I wasn't valedictorian is because two of the classes I needed were at the same time. So you could have been it. What were you? I was not in the running. You didn't qualify. I was known back then as Lionel who? Didn't know I was in the class. I actually dressed up as you for Halloween after you won Idol. My mom is awesome. She sent a photo to you and I got a little postcard back. It's dated December 2006. Wow. And I thought I'd bring it now. So hopefully it's good luck. You know what my mother used to stop and get me for breakfast? A 20 ounce Mountain Dew. Wow. And a sleeve of powdered donuts. Okay, we're about to start. Let's hold everything. Luke needs to have his breakfast burrito. Burrito. No, it's just arriving. It'll be 10 more minutes, everyone. 10 more. Oh my God, what? He's gonna have a rushed burrito. Fast burrito. There's burrito and then there's fast burrito. I'm gonna have one more bite and I'll be ready. Can you stop smacking? What's it like to be back? It is crazy. Yeah. But I'm really excited that Idol is on my home turf now. Obviously, you have a lot of talent. Do you think there's any left after we found you? There's so much. I mean, it's Music City. We should go out and just see if we can find any talent. Oh, let's do it. Right? Okay. Cameras, let's go see what we can find on Belmont. Everybody want to sing for us? We are auditioning for American Idol. We'll send you straight to the judges. I know you got class, but if you have a second, anybody. Come on. All right. Okay. You want to sing something? Sure. You want to sing for us? Yes, ma'am. I got you. What you got? It's okay to think that you're better than me. I'm the obvious. Now I'm your number one, number one. What are you studying? Political science. You keep that up. Let's see, who else? Don't you sing. I'm sorry. That was pretty good. Let's see what else we can find. Anybody? We got another. Hi. Ever thought about auditioning for American Idol? Yes. Yes, I would love to. Do you have class? I do, but this is for- Nice to meet you. Let's go. Were you ever nervous? Like on Idol? Yes. Of course. I was horrified. Were you nervous? A little bit. I've never done anything like this before. For me, if I'm slightly doubtful, once I grab the mic, it's only one way. I got to go that way or you're kind of superpower. You just take charge. Well, that's the mark of an entertainer. That's a superstar because you're going to figure it out or you're not. I like your voice a lot. Thank you. I mean, who needs oxygen, right? I feel like you broke a Carrie Underwood note holding record somewhere. I'm going to sing an original song we actually wrote in 2019. We felt like we were going to break up and instead of breaking up, we just came out with this song. Lionel and I thought we were going to break up in 2019. Never. We were going to stay together no matter what. Stronger than ever. You are a star. Hello, my name is Miyaka and I'm 24 years old and I'm from Ukraine. I sing Japanese, though I don't speak Japanese for now. I'm still learning English. Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God. Oh, my goodness. I'm a plumber. I always tell everybody the stinkier it is, the more money I make. Yep, that's the truth. You need to know what you're capable of. If you got to push a little more, you got to squeeze that tushy, squeeze that tushy, squeeze that tushy. Any musical background in the family or just you? My Uncle Lionel. Uncle who? Lionel. Sounds like a good individual. You guys look majestic. Majestic? Yeah. Well, thanks. Your hair is majestic. I don't know if we've seen better hair, right? It's pretty awesome. All right. Welcome back. Thank you. How are you? I'm great. I will never forget your performance with Benson Boone. Yeah, and me forgetting all the lyrics standing right next to it. Who wants to choke me? I do. All right, so we can do a kick. I don't need to pull a testicle. Don't worry, you're all right. You're just going to go up. Yeah, there you go. I finally found something I'm a natural at. I need a putter. Gary. I need a broom or something. Somebody come and get me real quick. I just broke the mic stand. Dang it, Luke. We need a tech. Maddie, get ready. I mean, I would use the other end. I was going, yeah, yeah. Oh, a little broomstick. There you go. That was terrible. That was just, that was pitiful. Luke, let me tell you something. If you're going to do it, do it right. Give Lionel a read. I mean, I got to read. I know, listen, I know where it is. All right. Watch this. Go in. That's in. You drained it. Pretty good. Thank you very much. You drained it. You know why? Because I'm the master of putt-putt. Sir, is your name Luke Bryan? It is. Am I in trouble? I heard you were giving too many no's. Is that true? I was giving some no's there, officer. Unfortunately, that is a violation of code idle 26. So I'm going to need your hand, sir. Oh, goodness. Put your hands like this for me. Make them tight. Easy. Luke, Luke, where am I going? Luke, what did you do? Stay right there, sir. You're in trouble. Oh, that got my attention. Hi. Hello. What's your name? Come on, guys. You got to be arrested once. You have been arrested? Yeah, and the officer said, OK, I'll let you go. But you have to call your parents on the phone. And I said, lock me up. Right in the middle of a story. And you go, and I'm going, OK, that was a hemorrhoid. And I'm going, OK, that was a hemorrhoid. That is a visual. Is there a name for that? What's that called? Crooked chicken. They're crooked chicken wings. Crooked chicken wing. OK, pretty good then. Oh, thank you, thank you. We would not get back up if we got down there. How's it going? We know you're from the country. Oh, I am, I am. I feel like I'm listening to the same person talk right now. It's what you do, ain't it? Oh my gosh. It's what you do, ain't it? Are you enjoying doing that? I'll be God's honest. I had a, uh. I'll be God's honest. You got to be somewhere from Kentucky to go God's honest. I feel like you are such a fantastic representation of every woman. Like you, you come in. You are, you're strong. You're gorgeous. You have a strength in your voice. And then you have these beautiful notes at the top that are very soft and pretty. And it's all the things all wrapped into one. And I love that very much. Thank you so much. Thank you. This means the world to me. For so long, I was afraid of kind of exploring who I was and where I was from. And, you know, I could finally be who I am and be proud of it, you know. We're going to give you a group hug. Okay. This is yours. We'll see you in Hollywood. Thank you so much, you guys. Thank you. The way you had your heart broken for someone you didn't even know, you know, and take that and basically say that something positive is going to come out of it. And to potentially even think about all the people that hear that and see you and hear this story and maybe decide to change their mind about something, you know, it's pretty, pretty incredible. You're one of my biggest inspirations since I was seven years old. Well, now who's the inspiration? It's pretty incredible. You have stage presence. It's all there. Accept you. Embrace you. Easily the strongest voice we've heard so far. Oh, wow. This is you. You are meant to be here. Thank you. Right now. Thank you. You might be my favorite person that's walked through those doors in the past three days. You're gorgeous. Like you look famous already. I just think you have just a beautiful simplicity to your voice. You're one that I'm going to think about when we leave here. Like, I wonder what song she's going to sing next. And I feel like I'm going to be just rooting for you. I love everything about everything you just did. Thank you so much. The timing of all this is the timing of it. Right, exactly. We're not in control of it. I had setbacks in my life that put my music career on hold and I matured and grew up during those years. Yeah. It's really perfect to me what you're doing. I've been in the room with Chris Stapleton a lot of times. You've got those little vibes going on. You've got that ability to whisper with soul and turn it up. You just got a lot of stuff going on and don't be afraid to turn them loose. Yes, sir. Great job. Thanks for being here with us and trusting us. You smell good too. And I know he'd be the first person to turn me on as soon as I walked out that door. Well, there you go. Congratulations, buddy. Congratulations, Chris. You said your dad's laughing looking down at this? Oh. Oh, yeah. 100%. There's a sign he's with you right there. Yeah. Congratulations. Where are you going, bud? He's on and he's off. He's like, I don't need you people.