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What happened to Hunter Metts? 'American Idol' singer tears up on stage, fans say 'it's OK to be nervous'

Hunter Metts broke down in tears and wished he didn't 'mess it up', but fans and judges assured him this was one of his best performances on the show

Hunter Metts on 'American Idol' has received mixed reactions from the judges in the past couple of weeks. But this week, all three judges maintained a united front as the former software developer crooned the Oscar-nominated song 'Falling Slowly' from the movie 'Once'. 

Metts was so immersed in his performance that he ended up forgetting a couple of lyrics from the song. This happened at the very end after he had delivered a pitch-perfect performance that the judges and the studio audiences were thoroughly enjoying.

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What happened to Hunter Metts?

Metts immediately broke down in tears after fumbling with the lyrics and watching him do so, the audiences cheered and applauded for him a little louder than they already were. Katy Perry wasted no time and chimed in to help Metts calm down. Perry had a couple of issues with her during the all-star duets and solos episode where Metts had teamed up with Jewel. 

She said she sensed "a little fear" in the Metts' eyes and Jewel was quick to disagree with Perry's comment. "What?" she exclaimed while watching Katy give feedback backstage. "No! I really thought he gave a lot more." Perry also asked him to stop being intimidated by the other singers in the competition and to believe in himself.

When Metts "messed up" on Sunday (April 18) night's episode, Perry was the first to help him understand that making mistakes is a human tendency and "perfection is an illusion". Judge Luke Bryan who is back on the show following a Covid-19 scare that kept him out of the episode last week also assured Metts that his performance was flawless. Lionel Richie detailed a similar incident that happened to him and how his audiences chimed in to sing the lyrics for him. 

Not just judges, even the fans watching from home too sent a lot of love, support, and virtual hugs for Metts after his crying bout. "I am now the founder of hunter metts protection squad i am ready to take kneecaps #AmericanIdol," read a tweet. "AMERICAN IDOL - Hunter Metts ("Falling Slowly" from ONCE): The first star performance of the night. It's OK to be nervous if you deliver when it counts on stage. Way to take the audience on a journey! Originally matters. #AmericanIdol" another tweet read. "I thought Hunter just got emotional. I didn't even notice that he forgot the words. Voting for the man," read another tweet. 

"Aww Hunter I wanna give him a hug so bad, you’re okay don’t cry my dude !!! don’t be sorry it was a beautiful performance #AmericanIdol" read another tweet. "I wanna run through my screen and hug hunter right now, that performance was so good regardless of that little mistake #americanidol" another fan wrote. 

'American Idol' airs Sunday and Monday at 8 pm ET on ABC.