“American Idol” Judges Reveal Their Favorite Performances of the Night
“American Idol” Judges Reveal Their Favorite Performances of the Night
Daniela AvilaTue, March 31, 2026 at 9:00 PM UTC
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Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke BryanCredit: Disney/Eric McCandless -
American Idol judges Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and Carrie Underwood reveal their favorite performances of the night
Bryan and Underwood gave Hannah Harper a special shout-out
Meanwhile, Richie showed some love for Underwood's performance that concluded the night
The stakes are high after American Idol's songs of faith night.
Speaking with a small group of reporters after the live show on Monday, March 30, judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan opened up about their thoughts on the performances — and shared their favorites.
"I feel like Hannah [Harper] and Chris [Tungseth] were really surprising. And Keyla [Richardson]. There's a reason that when they configure the show, they want to take people on a musical journey, and they put them in a certain order. I feel like they did a really good job," Underwood, 43, said of the producers.
Underwood also opened up about the Top 14 elimination earlier in the night — and said she was disappointed by some of America's choices.
"We lost some of my absolute favorites immediately. Madison [Moon], I loved her since day one. She has such a cool voice and such a huge voice and for whatever reason... somebody would get voted off and I couldn't believe it."
Bryan agreed that Harper's performance of "At the Cross (Love Ran Red)" may have been the best of the night.
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"I thought the song choice was perfect. I think she really solidified how deserving she is," the "Drunk on You" singer, 49, said. "But there were a lot of standouts tonight. I think Philmon [Lee] did a really good job with 'Simple Man' and Jordan [McCullough] singing 'I Can Only Imagine.' It's a lot of great moments and it's going to be interesting to see when they tally all the votes what happens."
While Richie, 76, agrees that the performances were impressive, he was most moved by Underwood's performance of "How Great Thou Art."
Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan in New York City on March 24, 2026Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty
"She epitomizes exactly what this show is about. When she came out as the contestant, then the judge, and now the period of the day, or should I say exclamation, it's like, wow," he said.
"To watch her glow on that stage as a judge passing her wisdom and knowledge onto these kids — it was just the perfect bookend," he later added. "Luke said to me, 'I'm glad we didn't have to go after Carrie.' I said, 'Exactly right. She came to kill.' But that's the beauty we have as judges."
By the end of the night, while the Top 12 was set to be announced, the voting system crashed and there were no final results. Therefore, this week's results will be announced at the top of next week's episode.
American Idol airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
