Katy Perry couldn't help but cringe at ' American Idol' contestant singing her song and fans noticed
Katy Perry has had many hopefuls who brought their version of Katy Perry songs to the 'American Idol' auditions; however, this one contestant's fiery performance on 'I Kissed a Girl' seemingly left the pop star judge cringing, and fans noticed. Madai Chackell appeared on 'American Idol' Season 22 and belted out an amazing rendition of Perry's single cover song. Before her audition, she told Perry, "I'm going to get into your bag today... You know, sort some things out." Perry remarked, "Sure", slightly taken aback by the contestant's confidence.
Throughout Chackell's performance, Perry pulled a series of uncomfortable faces, which sure didn't go unnoticed. Despite Perry's reaction, the performance earned a round of applause. Perry, still processing the earlier rendition of her song, asked Chackell, “I want you to sing ‘Happy Birthday'," before adding, “Just give me some vocals." Chackell leaned into the challenge and began singing, showing off her impressive range of vocals. Perry eventually was impressed and whistled in approval.
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The YouTube comments section was filled with praise for the young hopeful. One fan said, "She killed it. Katy Perry is whack. She's jealous that Madai can sing better than her." Another added, "They tried to put her in a box because she sounds like a Caucasian artist, but she is African-American. I love her uniqueness and her ability to sing what she feels is true to her. She is a star and may God let her continue to shine love!" The third chimed in, "She's doing too much, her talent is amazing, but she’s so all over it’s hard to focus on the talent." The fourth commented on the Instagram post, "I saw the teaser for Hollywood week and Girlll you better not go home! I’m rooting for you."
Perry then told Chackell, "It is so fun when you can strip it all down, take all that frosting off, and there’s still, like, a great cake." She added, “I appreciated ‘I Kissed a Girl.’ That was wild and colorful. But if you could mix it with what you just did…," Before Perry finished her sentence, Chackell quipped, "I sure can." “I’m an R&B girl, too, so I can. I have a theatrical, classical background. I can switch it up and give you ‘Little Mermaid.’ I can give you whatever," she told the judges. Lionel Richie chimed in, "All I want to know is, at the end of this run, that you are in control of all the characters." Richie even complimented her talent as "Show business."
However, Luke Bryan opined, "I think you are still a year or two away from really perfecting who you are as the individual artist." Perry is still trying to figure out the singer: "I think you are just trying to grab people’s attention, right?” Perry continued, “I mean, Doja Cat started with ‘Mooo’ and look at her now.” So you want to grab it, and then you want to hold it,” Perry went on. “That’s what I did with ‘I Kissed a Girl.'” Despite having mixed feelings, Perry and Richie gave Chackell their yes, while Bryan remained unconvinced and said no. Chakell didn't have a long run on the show and was eliminated in the 'Hollywood Week' round for not meeting the judge's expectations, as per Screenrant.