‘American Idol’: Lionel Richie Reveals Why He Saved Rae After Judges’ Song Contest Win

Victory sometimes comes with a heavy price to pay. That’s what American Idol judge Lionel Richie learned on April 6 when, as the winner of the Judges’ Song Contest, he was tasked with choosing either Jesse Findling or Rae to continue on in the competition after the pair found themselves in the bottom two.

Jesse sang “Wonderwall,” the song made famous by Oasis, which was selected for him, ironically, by Richie in the ’90s-themed competition. Rae performed the Taylor Dane hit “Love Will Lead You Back,” chosen for her by judge Carrie Underwood.

TV Insider and a small group of reporters chatted with Richie after the show. The “Truly” singer explained why he saved Rae for the Top 11, which ultimately led to Jesse’s elimination.

First, he addressed how his songs were selected by more than half of the show’s Top 12 contestants. “I feel so good about winning,” he says. “At one point, I was doing so well, it became embarrassing because it was like, ‘What about the rest of [the] judges?’”

Richie says it felt kind of strange that he was the one who had to make the call between Jesse and Rae. While Richie raved about Rae’s rendition of “Love Will Lead You Back,” noting that the singer “knew every inch” of where she was going with the song and that it was “so well done,” that wasn’t the only reason he selected her.

“I picked ‘vibe,’” he shares. “I picked attitude. I picked stage presence, not so much performance, but which one had the better stage vibe. That’s my big word tonight.”

Richie sees in Rae a staying power that will keep audiences entertained when she’s doing two-hour long concerts. “You better hope you’ve got a couple of ‘vibes’ in there because of one of those songs has to be interpreted by you, your attitude,” he remarks. “So, I chose vibe over everything else.”

Disney/Eric McCandless

Richie hastens to add that, along with Rae’s vibe, she gave a powerful performance during the live show. “That Taylor Dane song [she performed] was ridiculous, OK?” he says. “I use that as a perfect example of when you forget that this is a competition, and that you’ve got 20 million people watching you and there’s a billion or 300 million impressions. Her performance just took over. She has that ability.”

“[Lionel] was in an impossible place,” Underwood adds. “I told him, ‘There was no right answer.’ I didn’t think [Jesse or Rae] would be in the bottom two, but you don’t know what America is hearing at home. I’ve made the comment a couple of times that I want to go home and listen and see how it came through on TV because it’s totally different in the room.”

“I think it was a good decision,” judge Luke Bryan admits. “Rae has been really singing solidly all year. If there was any bump in the road, it was because she didn’t know the song, but she’s been solid every round. So has Jesse, but … I fully support him. We huddle up at the end. I thought he made the right decision.”

While anyone can find themselves in the bottom two, it was indeed quite the head-scratcher that Rae was there following her powerful performance. Richie suggests, however, that, as a result, Rae will come back even stronger next week.

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“She will not be timid on the next time around, I promise you,” Richie predicts. “Here we go now!”

The show is moving so quickly that contenders can’t predict which way things are going to go. “Honestly, I’m preparing myself for every scenario,” Rae says. “We’ve all come so far. I’m just in the acceptance stage of things, like, I could be going home. But now, I’m in ‘Let’s get to work’ mode!”

American Idol, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC