'American Idol' 2023: Katy Perry disses Kanye West, calls Amara Valerio 'our girl' during auditions
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Just because the Oscars are being broadcasted on ABC Sunday night, it doesn't mean that American Idol fans need to wait for a week to quench their thirst! If they're willing to stay up late, they can enjoy more judge auditions. One of the nine contestants who auditioned for judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan is 20-year-old Amara Valerio from Yonkers, NY. During her audition, Amara shared a disrespectful incident that occurred to her during the Yonkers Montessori Academy graduation ceremony in 2019. Katy was particularly enthusiastic about Amara's story, and she showed her support by referring to her as "our girl."
Katy has often proven that she isn’t afraid to say exactly what’s on her mind on 'American Idol'. In Season 21, the pop star spoke out against gun violence after a school shooting survivor shared their story. Now, she’s standing up for Amara who was “Kanye’d” and bullied by her schoolmate. Keep scrolling to read more about Amara's audition and what Katy had to say to Amara’s bully.
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Katy Perry hypes up Amara and disses Kanye in the same breath
In the 2023 auditions for American Idol, Amara opened up about the time she was bullied in high school. She shared, “I got asked to sing the national anthem at my school and I was super excited, and then when I started to sing, this girl came up and pulled the mic and was like, ‘This is my senior graduating class, and I think I deserve to sing the anthem!'" This did not sit right with the judges and especially Katy. The judges watched the video of her getting pushed away from the stage and looking at it, Katy was the first to exclaim, “She just pulled a Kanye West.” Luke immediately responded in agreement saying, “Yes! She got Kanye’d.” For those who are grappling with the meaning of this phrase, you must go back in time.
At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009, Kanye West notoriously hijacked the acceptance speech of Taylor Swift for Best Female Video, with the immortal words, "Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!" This later came in at #6 on the list of most quotable moments of 2009, as compiled by Fred Shapiro of the Yale Book of Quotations. The original "Kanye moment" spawned countless mashups and parodies, and, not surprisingly, it also led to "Kanye" becoming an eponym and began to be used quite frequently by many celebrities, including Elinor Burkett. Kanye West and Katy Perry collaborated on many instances in the past and this comment had nothing to do with their collaboration. This was not a personal attack on the rapper, but just an expression used by Katy to express her annoyance with the Amara issue.
'You’re finished messing with our girl!'
Amara's story was not just that. To make matters even worse, she further explained, “The next year was COVID, so I never got to sing at my high school graduation.” This made the judges sigh deeply as they nudged Amara to spill the beans on the name of her bully, but Lionel told her not to hold onto it. As soon as she started singing a cover of 'Bust your Windows' by Jazmine Sullivan, the judges were quick to start guessing the name of her bully. They kept guessing names like Sophia, Karen, Emily, Samantha, Christine, and Wilma in between her incredible performance. After her song, Amara revealed that her name started with an "S". Katy did not need any other clue to guess the correct name. She quickly answered, "Sarah" and awed everybody in the room. “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” said Katy immediately after, “But you’re finished messing with our girl!” By this time, her spot was confirmed in the competition and all judges exclaimed in unison, “You’re going to Hollywood!”
'American Idol' 2023 Season 21 airs every Sunday on ABC at 8 pm ET.