Will Carrie Underwood Return for ‘American Idol’ Season 24? EP Weighs In
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Jamal Roberts wasn’t the only winner on Season 23 of American Idol. The show itself scored a big victory with the addition of past Idol winner Carrie Underwood, who joined Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan at the judges’ table this year.
“I thought she was exceptional,” Megan Michaels Wolflick, executive producer, tells TV Insider of Underwood’s performance. “You never know what a person is going to be when they come behind the desk. It’s that person’s job to carve out his or her role and be their own person. You’re not just subbing for someone else.”
Michaels Wolflick can’t think of another instance worldwide in which a past Idol champion became a regular judge on the show. “It’s a bit of a risk,” she says, hastening to add that there were many built-in positives by having Underwood at the table. “She knows Hollywood Week, live shows, and she knows what it’s like to have confetti showered on her.”
Underwood says this most recent finale was similar to hers two decades ago. “[Both] were great, fun shows,” she recalls. “Two hours of super fun and then, five minutes of, ‘Oh, gosh.’”
Five minutes might be a slight exaggeration. Ryan “but first after this” Seacrest is known for going to a commercial before announcing the name of the show’s winner. Has he cut back on that in recent years?
Disney/Gizelle Hernandez
“It’s kinder,” confirms Michaels Wolflick.
“It might depend on how much we’re running over,” Underwood chuckles.
Richie and Bryan join Michaels Wolflick in her praise of Underwood. “There’d be some times when Lionel and I would say, ‘Ah, let’s not send this one through,’” Bryan shares, “but Carrie would remember what it was like being that kid in the room. She navigated all this really well.”
The “Truly” singer concurs with Bryan that Underwood’s compassion for contenders was commendable. “She didn’t know how to say ‘no’ to anybody,” says Richie, adding it wasn’t long before Underwood got her “no’s” in order.
Underwood says that the more she sat at the table, the more comfortable she felt in her new role. “Practice always helps,” she muses. “I don’t say a lot [in life] but…the more you do things, the more comfortable you get. I was pretty nervous [at first].”
The banter among the judges didn’t seem to need much honing. “I’ve known Luke for a long time,” Underwood says. “And Lionel’s the easiest person to be around.”
“She doesn’t fit in – she belongs,” says Richie in describing Underwood. “She brought the best angle possible. Carrie has been here at the show since she left, in a way. She fits like a glove.”
“I would be happy,” Michaels Wolflick says about having Underwood re-join Richie and Bryan for Season 24. “I have known this girl for 20 years. I am so proud of how far she’s come at the desk as I am how she did here during her season [as a contestant]. There’s just magic here with Carrie.”
“This season is one for the books,” the Idol exec adds. “Carrie brought something spectacular to the panel. She had so much to do with the three [finalists – Roberts, John Foster, and Breanna Nix] that we had.”
And will Richie be back? “I won’t say that ‘I’ll see you next season,’” Richie told reporters after his interview wrapped, “but I’ll see you next season, you know what I’m saying?”
American Idol, Season 24, TBD, ABC
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