Luke Bryan wasn’t being shown any respect on a recent episode of American Idol.
Things got tense between the country singer, who has served as a judge on the reality competition series since 2018, and a contestant named Madai ChaKell. The American Idol singer was attempting to sing Ariana Grande’s “Tattooed Heart,” and it was clear from the get-go that something was wrong with her performance.
ChaKell even stopped the song and blamed it on the in-house pianist, saying:
“Okay, we’re going to do this acapella. Because that’s not flowing the way we practiced.”
She then went on to sing the song with no instrumental backing, and even as Madai got through it at her own pace, it was still pretty rough.
Once she finished up, the judges thanked her, and Luke Bryan asked:
“Is your voice 100 percent? It was a little shaky in some spots.”
ChaKell responded by saying it obviously wasn’t where she wants it to be, but she was still trying to do her best. Backstage, she stated that the piano playing being mistimed really threw her for a loop.
However, she was clearly frustrated by how Luke Bryan called her out, so she decided to throw some shade at the country music singer:
“My pianist just completely flipped the script on what we had practiced. Is your voice okay, Luke? Because I haven’t heard you sing! Obviously I can sing.”
Yikes.
I’m not an expert on American Idol, though I’d assume insulting one of the judges that has a lot to do with your success on the show isn’t a great idea.
Because of how Madai’s first attempt went, the show ended up giving her another chance to perform. As she walked back up on stage, Bryan tried to extend a peace offering by saying this:
“It’s great to have you back. We understand all of the dynamics of it now. We’re glad that you get another opportunity and in this moment, your moment, we want you in the most comfortable situation possible.”
That was a nice way to set up the contestant for her do-over, but she still felt disrespected by Bryan’s comments her first time around. So she took the opposite of the high road and responded:
“Okay, so with that being said, can I have a chair perhaps? Because I’m getting a little shaky.”
After she got through her second attempt, she exchanged some not-so-pleasant words with the judges, which caused many of them to be taken back. After arrogantly suggesting what “American Idol was all about,” Bryan fired back as she walked off the stage with:
“Maybe we’ll do ‘American Humble’ at some point.”
(And what was with that fake accent she was doing?)
All in all, the interactions led to some intense moments and some mutual “roasting” between the contestant and Luke Bryan. Check it out:
