No one knew Carrie Underwood was a metal head — until her wild ‘alter-ego’ took over on ‘American Idol’
Carrie Underwood ditched her country girl demeanor on 'American Idol' and surprisingly grooved to hard metal. Underwood lip-synced the hit rock tracks Korn’s 'Freak on a Leash' and 'Bodies' by Drowning Pool with heavy metal enthusiast Kobyn Melton during the auditions. The 18-year-old Florida native introduced himself by his stage name - Insite and revealed that he taught drums and vocals at the School of Rock in Naples. “So I assume you do, indeed, rock?” the 'Jesus, Take the Wheel' hitmaker exclaimed excitedly. “I was hoping to kind of change things up and blow the roof off of this place, see what I can do,” Melton said before beginning his head-banging performance.
Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie were completely blown over by Underwood's freakish side, they marveled as she joined the young rock star for a second round of mental fever. "She knew every word. Who are you?" Richie reacted with astonishment after witnessing the Grammy winner's hidden talent. “I’m Jukebox Carrie!” Underwood replied candidly. "First of all, I am enjoying this, but I mean, I don't know how we fit you in Disney night, I just can't figure that out," Richie continued, referring to the sudden influx of rock energy. "You know what we've had people come in and do rock, but you know you kind of have your own little thing, but I still don't know vocally..." Bryan trailed off.
"Is there something like softer that you could just sing?" Underwood requested, realizing the fellow judges were not used to this type of mayhem. "We're starting to learn about Carrie's alter egos," Bryan teased. "That was high school for me. I've even crowd surfed people," Underwood revealed. "We are learning about our judge," Richie mocked. "Hey, don't tell all your little secrets. Be careful," Bryan cautioned in jest. Insite did bring out a never-before-seen version of Underwood and walked away with his golden ticket to Hollywood. Fans were equally stunned by the 'rock chick' version of the faith-based singer, "Carrie's maniacal laughter after his scream in bodies healed something in me," a viewer gushed.
"Carrie is GOATed for knowing all the lyrics to these Nü Metal classics!" a fan chimed. "There is one episode so far, and I’m already in love with Carrie as a judge," a netizen lauded. "Took me back to high school. Headbanging too. I was surprised to see Carrie knew all the words. Luke and Lionel's reaction," an online user agreed. Unfortunately, Melton couldn't sustain his rock skills beyond the Hollywood week and got eliminated early on. Meanwhile, Underwood is a self-confessed 'Guns-n-Roses' fan, in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, she revealed her love for "nu-metal or super-hard rock music."
As per Yahoo Entertainment, she confessed to being obsessed with playing hard metal rock songs while working out in the gym. One of her favorites is 'Trauma', by Michigan hardcore band I Prevail, as “one that I have on repeat when I’m working out.” After the rock audition, Underwood has definitely given a glimpse of her multi-talented persona on 'American Idol'.