I feel like we spent weeks and weeks with no news coming down the American Idol pipeline ahead of its return on the 2024 TV schedule. Last spring, Katy Perry exited, and then there wasn't a whole lot of forward momentum. Until this week, when a rumor mentioned Carrie Underwood might be joining, and then the creative team apparently said “eff it,” and made the full announcement. But why was Carrie Underwood chosen, and how long has this been in the works?
As Idol was wrapping Season 22 of the long-running competition series, Katy Perry was bandying ideas like Jelly Roll out in regards to who could replace her. Lionel Richie actually said a former Idol contestant might be a great fit for the gig, but his vote was for Kelly Clarkson. (The busy host of The Kelly Clarkson Show said no.)
Apparently, the powers that be did think a returning Idol star would be a good fit for the gig, however, and they approached another major name: Carrie Underwood.
Idol’s Showrunner Explains Why Carrie Underwood Is A Good Fit
Not only does Carrie Underwood have longtime ties to the reality series, she’s also the Season 4 winner of American Idol. Showrunner and executive producer Megan Wolflick also noted that it has been exactly 20 years since she stood before Simon Cowell and co. and belted it out during her audition. In the time since, she’s won a slew of CMAs and Grammy awards and she also remains popular thanks to doing the NFL’s popular theme song “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.”
But she's still known for becoming a star on the competition series and returning to her roots felt like a great fit. Given the anniversary timing the “stars aligned” for her to come on the show, per what the producer told ET.
Well, it is 20 years since she auditioned in St. Louis for American Idol, and to have the first ever Idol alum on the panel has always been something that’s been interesting to me. She is our queen, she is our icon of American Idol.
Honestly, Idol has produced a lot of real, actual stars over the years, so the singer might not have been the only person who could have fulfilled this role as an alum of the series. Yet, given what the producer is mentioning about the anniversary, the whole thing just seems to fit together like a nice little puzzle.
Though It Sounds Like The Show May Have Known Carrie Was The Right Fit For A While
Megan Wolflick had been talking about the “exciting search” to find Katy Perry’s replacement, but while she’s cagey about the timeline here, it seems the production team may have known Underwood was going to pan out, or at least was a major prospect, for a while, now. She said during the interview:
We have been searching, you know, and obviously talking to Carrie for a little bit here. It has been a little over 2 months since the [Season 22] finale, but these talks have been going on for a while and we've been really excited to make it all happen.
Talks can sometimes take a while for a variety of reasons. Maybe a celebrity isn’t convinced a gig like this is a good fit. Maybe the network and the celebrity are trying to make the schedule work or are feeling one another out while leaving other options open. Maybe Carrie Underwood and ABC were haggling over money. We don’t know for sure what happened, but we do know that finally all parties involved felt comfortable enough to officially welcome Ms. Underwood back into the Idol fold after rumors broke.
In particular, I loved the sweet exchange Underwood had with Ryan Seacrest, who is also an OG within the franchise. After he shared a sweet message welcoming her back to the show in a “full-circle moment,” she responded back, writing, that she, like the producers, sees it as a homecoming of sorts.
Thank you Ryan! Excited to be coming back home! ❤️
The fanbase for singing competitions often gears toward the heartland, which is why so many winners of The Voice and Idol have been country singers. So, Underwood’s return should presumably be a great fit for a show that is widely considered one of the best reality series. We'll find out soon enough when the show returns.
