American Idol is gearing up for its 24th season, with the show set to return on January 26 on ABC. Judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan and host Ryan Seacrest will all return, making this Underwood’s second season judging the show after winning Idol in 2005.
In a new interview with Kelly Sutton of Y’all Access Radio, Underwood opened up about how she feels to be returning to the judges’ table, sharing that she’s more sure of herself this time around. “I feel more confident in myself in this role,” she said. “I feel like last year, you wonder if you’ll have anything to say. You wonder what kind of a judge you’ll be because you really don’t know until you get in there. But I feel good, and I feel good about the talent, for sure.”
Some contestants on the show’s new season will include Jesse Findling, Josiah Dyer, Jacquie Lee, Daniel Stallworth, Genevieve Heyward, Brock Ryne, Lainey Grace, Jewels, Lucas Leon, Brooks, Keyla Richardson, Tate Emmons, Jayson Arendt, Ricky Boyce, Kyndal, Khloe Grace and more. While viewers will have to tune in to find out who makes it through, Underwood told Sutton that she did find it easier this year to say “no” to artists who weren’t what she was looking for.
“I feel like most of the people that come through understand what we’re trying to tell them,” the eight-time GRAMMY winner explained. “So a lot of it, if they’re young, it’s like ‘You just need to get in front of people some more. You need to put some more time into this. It’s not a no, it’s a not right now. Not quite yet, but keep doing what you do.’”
American Idol is shaking things up in a big way this season, moving its traditional Hollywood week from Hollywood, California to Nashville, Tennessee. With two country superstars on the judging panel, the move makes sense, and Underwood found the decision is a “cool” one.
Dubbed Hollywood Week: Music City Takeover, this year’s Hollywood Week is being filmed at Belmont University’s the Fisher Center in Nashville. Underwood shared that the university “has been so good to us” and added that she thinks the show’s contestants “had a lot of fun” exploring Music City. As for her, while she’s technically much closer to home than in California, Underwood only “sometimes” gets to sleep in her own bed.
“I live an hour away,” she noted. “So we have so much talent to go through that if we’re wrapping at 10:00, 10:30 at night, if I’m going to get home at like 11:30, and then I’m going to be back in the makeup chair at 7:00… I’ve been doing a little bit of that. I’ve been trying to bounce back and forth.”
The Oklahoma native and husband Mike Fisher share two sons, Isaiah and Jacob, and she said she “had that conversation” with them about her busy schedule. “I’m like, ‘It’s going to be kind of a crazy couple of weeks. Just hold on. Mom will be back. I love you.’”
The Season 24 premiere of American Idol airs Monday, January 26 at 8/7c on ABC and is available to stream on Hulu. New episodes will continue to air every Monday at 8/7c.
