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Carrie Underwood reminisced on her American Idol audition in a new digital series, Idol To Icon, which premiered just a few days before the country star makes her highly-anticipated return to the show as a judge in the upcoming season.
Underwood, then 21, was watching the news at home in Checotah, Oklahoma, and heard that American Idol auditions were underway. Underwood looked up the locations of upcoming audition opportunities and noticed Idol was headed to St. Louis, Missouri. She mentioned it to her mom, and before long, the mother-daughter duo found themselves driving several hours to St. Louis so Underwood could audition for the show. She donned jeans and a pink top as she walked into the audition room and covered Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” for then-judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.
“I knew going into my Idol auditions that Simon was not a fan of country music,” Underwood said. “Even one of the executive producers at the time was like, ‘you know Simon hates country music, right?’ And I was like, ‘yes.’ But that’s who I am. That did affect my song choice in my audition because I thought maybe if I sing ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me,’ it would kind of still be me, and a song that I knew and loved. So, I did my thing, and then he did cut me off. And I was like, ‘…I did a bad job. He stopped me singing.’ He immediately gave me a compliment, and then said, ‘…I just said, I’m surprised we haven’t found any good country singers,’ which surprised me. And then he told me to keep being me. I feel like he deserves a lot of credit for that. Instead of being like, ‘I don’t like country music,’ ‘this isn’t what I want to listen to,’ he saw a country artist and the value that country music has.
“I have no idea how that 21-year-old Carrie was able to muster up enough guts to walk into a room and audition in front of Simon, Paula and Randy, and the world,” she said. “Everybody watching on the other side of the camera, when you think about that, I mean, it’s just absolutely mind-boggling.”
Underwood — who still knows her audition number, 14887, by heart — went on to win the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Over the last two decades, the powerhouse singer-songwriter has won eight Grammy Awards and collected many Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music accolades. She’s also the most-awarded artist in the history of the CMT Music Awards. Underwood is now known for career-spanning hits like “Blown Away,” “Before He Cheats,” “Undo It,” “All-American Girl,” “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Out Of That Truck,” and many more. Now, as a judge, Underwood said she can relate to the contestants auditioning in front of her, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. Underwood is also reuniting with longtime host Ryan Seacrest in the upcoming Idol season, and joins Jelly Roll, who will serve as the show’s first “artist in residence.”
“It is really incredible to think, a few decisions that we can make in life that can completely alter our trajectory,” Underwood said. She read and reacted to a heartfelt journal entry she wrote during her time on Idol.
Underwood’s Idol To Icon series is available to watch on YouTube and Instagram. The new season of American Idol is set for a two-hour season premiere on Sunday, March 9. The show airs on ABC and is available the following day on Hulu.