Fans React to Carrie Underwood’s American Idol Debut — Plus Backstreet Boys Nepo Baby Audition

Of course, that meant also trotting Brian out to perform a duet with his talented son, but not after Baylee had his big solo moment to try and impress the judging panel, including newcomer to the panel — but not to Idol — Carrie Underwood.

After courting controversy at Donald Trump’s second inauguration by performing “America the Beautiful” — well, basically by being there — Carrie and ABC were definitely hoping her fans were ready to forgive and forget as she joins Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan on the panel.

Carrie, of course, got her start on the then-Fox show when she won its fourth season, going on to arguably become the biggest star the show has ever found when it comes to album sales. These days, fans debate that issue between Carrie and Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly proved her chops on these types of shows for years when she served as a Coach on NBC’s rival singing show The Voice, while she’s also made several returns to Idol herself. But this marks the first time a former winner has returned as a judge on the show that made them.

Carrie certainly felt comfortable in the room right from the jump — or at least the clever editing made it feel that way — as she was easy and comfortable with all of the contestants, while showing off her own musical diversity as a fan.

While her career was in country music, she quickly recognized Baylee Littrell’s family resemblance to his famous father. “There’s something about you that looks familiar,” she quipped when he came in the room.

Idol then showed both Baylee’s upbringing in the shadow of BSB, as well as Underwood having the boy band’s posters on her wall. “You must forgive me, I didn’t have your dad’s posters in my room,” Luke teased his fellow judge.

“Following in my dad’s footsteps is scary because his career to me is one of the most extraordinary in music history. No one can ever compare,” said Baylee of his father’s career. He said that while he may have inherited his pop’s vocals, he definitely didn’t get his dance talents.

As for the nepo of it all, Brian argued, “Obviously, growing up in the industry, a lot of people look at that as such a perk. But it’s not easy. I’ve always told everybody that he’s 10 times more talented than I ever was.”

Rather than lean on his father’s musical pedigree, or any other artist, Baylee opted to showcase his own artistry with an original song, “Waiting on Myself to Die,” which he said “is about me personally wanting to give up and not giving up yet.”

“Trust me, I wish I wanted to do something completely different,” he told the cameras, referring to his famous pedigree. “But if I’m not doing music, there’s no way I can really exist.”

After showcasing his talent on the song, Luke invited Brian to join him in singing the chorus of his original song, giving the panel a duet moment. By then, though, Carrie was already mesmerized by his vocals.

“I think you could go very, very far in this competition,” she told him, adding, “For your superstar singer dad to come in here, I feel like for anybody else, it would make you look bad. But it didn’t. You were right there with him. You didn’t pale, you didn’t shy away. You were like, ‘This is my moment.'”

American Idol continues to lean into nepo babies, as they certainly help guarantee press coverage for the aging series. Last year, it was Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter Emmy Russell, who recently expressed frustration at the song pushing her to perform one of her grandmother’s songs.

She made it into the Top 5, while Red Hot Chili Pepper’s drummer Chad Smith’s daughter Ava Maybee and Honeymoon Suite guitarist Derry Grehan’s daugher Leah Marlene both made Top 10 in Season 20, alongside Aretha Franklin’s daughter Grace.

Season 21 welcomed Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and his daughter Kaya Stewart, as well as Glenn Mederios’ daughter Lyric. Other past nepo babies have included Jim Carrey’s daughter Jane getting a Season 11 Golden Ticket, Doobie Brothers singer Tom Johnston’s daughter Lara Johnston, Brenda K. Starr’s daughter Gianna Isabella, and Jo Dee Messina’s cousin Alex Preston.

Outside of music, former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway’s daughter Claudia famously auditioned in 2021, while the daughter of NFL star Phillipp Sparks had a pretty good run in Season 6 — as Jordin Sparks won it all.

Meanwhile, St. Louis Cardinals’ legend Ozzie Smith’s son Nikko Smith had a respectable run of his own when he competed against Carrie back in Season 4.

On Sunday, Carrie proved why she was such a success both on the show and after winning it, showcasing the diversity in her musical influences and interests, even beyond boy band posters on her walls.

She did get to enjoy some country classics, as well as getting emotional with one contestant who took on her own track, “Jesus Take the Wheel.” Luckily for Breanna Nix, that gamble went well and paid off, securing her spot in the next round. “You did a great job with that,” Carrie told her.

The most surprising moment for her fellow judges — which should also serve to ease concerns that her and Luke could see the show lean even more into the country music genre — came when Carrie let the bodies hit the floor.

“Who are you?” asked Lionel as Carrie Underwood totally got into one auditioner’s take on Korn’s “Freak on a Leash.” Not only did she know every single word, but she was singing along with the contestant named Insite.

Carrie even took it a step further, joining him in front of her fellow judges to help him with a hyped duet of Drowning Pools’ “Bodies.” Well, Carrie helped with the counting, but it was clear she was a fan of the song, keeping the energy up and helping Insite secure a rare rock Golden Ticket.

The biggest moment for the judges, though, was the very first audition we got to see. Kolbi Jordan wowed them with her take on Chrisette Michele’s “Epiphany (I’m Leaving),” quickly earning a spot in the next round … but the judges weren’t done with her just yet.

After learning how much Chrisette idolizes Patti Labelle, Lionel dropped her name on the floor, and then got the industry icon on the line. But even that wasn’t all the judges had in mind for Chrisette.

The judges then booked her to perform in front of 70,000 fans at the Tenessee Titans/New England Patriots football game. But it was also a ploy to get the singer in front of that huge crowd so they could hand out the season’s first Platinum Ticket upgrade, sending her straight through the first round of Hollywood Week.

From competing with one contestant on trivia that involved her own Season 4 American Idol experience — she forgot her second runner-up, but otherwise did very well — to showing her musical range and overall optimism, Carrie was definitely far less out there and weird than the woman she replaced, Katy Perry.

She also didn’t flirt with any of the contestants, which became a staple of Katy’s run. In fact, when one contestant shot his shot, Carrie shot back, “I’m old enough to be your momma!” That never stopped Katy!

Fans were loving the energy she brought, lighting up social media with appreciation for the depth of her musical knowledge, her experience doing exactly what these contestants are doing, and seeing one of the greatest to ever do it help usher in the next generation.

While there was still some online grumbling about Carrie’s inauguration appearance, it appeared most of those people were just expressing their refusal to watch, so they didn’t really weigh in on how she did.

New episodes of American Idol air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.