Michael Buble surprised American Idol contestant Christian Guardino on Sunday night’s episode (May 8) of the show by inviting him to sing a duet.
Buble extended the invitation to Guardino via a video that played on the Idol stage after Guardino finished singing a cover of Justin Bieber’s song, “Lonely.”
“I have an idea, what would you think about in a couple of weeks from now singing with me on the [Idol] finale?” Buble asked.
“Are you kidding me? Are you serious?” Guardino freaked out upon learning of the “Higher” singer’s offer before enthusiastically accepting.
Guardino unfortunately did not make it into the top 5 on Idol, but will still have the opportunity to sing with Buble.
Watch Michael surprise @christiangsoul with an invitation to sing with him at this season’s @AmericanIdol finale! pic.twitter.com/LhoSha66Be
— Michael Bublé (@MichaelBuble) May 10, 2022
The 21-year-old Long Island native first caught Idol judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan’s attention during his audition when he performed Donny Hathaway’s “A Song For You.”
Guardino’s audition got all three judges on their feet and even earned a hug from Richie.
“This one right here, he is touched by the hands from upstairs that give people voices,” Bryan remarked after Guardino had finished singing and the judges invited the contestant’s mother into the audition room for their vote. “He has all of that magic, and I don’t know if we’ve seen it so naturally this year yet until this one right here,” he added.
Guardino wound up receiving three yes votes, which gave him the golden ticket to Hollywood.
He continued to deliver powerful performances during his time on Idol, including an emotional cover of John Lennon’s hit song, “Imagine,” which left judge Katy Perry in tears and ultimately secured his place in the top 20.
Ahead of his emotional performance, Guardino spoke about the challenges he’s overcome as the result of his retinal disorder, sharing, ““I can’t take anything for granted, and that’s why I’m standing here today. It just makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world.”
“Hearing what you have overcome and the mountains you’ve climbed and the attitude of gratitude that you have, and then you sing ‘Imagine,’ which is a world-changing song. You were put on this planet to do something super powerful, and you are doing it right now and in this room,” Perry reacted to the performance. “God bless you Christian!,” she added.
Despite not making it into Idol‘s top 5 slot, Guardino earned the judges’ praise for his performances of Bieber’s “Lonely” as well as his Mother’s Day tribute of Smokie Norful’s song, “Dear God.”
“It was just pouring out of your soul,” Bryan said of Guardino’s performance. “It was second nature.”
While Guardino did not make it into the competition’s top 5, the remaining contests will be mentored by Idol alum Carrie Underwood.
American Idol airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC.
