She's back. Carrie Underwood is set to return to American Idol as a judge this season, as she’ll be replacing former judge Katy Perry on the show for Season 23 (Season 8 on the new network, ABC), where she’ll sit on the panel alongside Lionel Richie and fellow country artist Luke Bryan. Of course, it will be a full-circle moment for the American Idol alum, who won the show in its prime back in 2005 at just 22 years old. It’s also the first time they’ve ever had two country artists as judges at the same time, which will definitely be an interesting element considering she and Bryan have known each other for years now. Since 2005, Carrie has become a country superstar, selling over 85 million records worldwide, scored 28 #1 singles, won eight Grammy’s and seven CMA Awards. She’s become easily one of the most successful artists to come from the competition show, and her insane vocal range and beautiful voice are second to none. For me, she’s easily in the conversation for the best vocalist in mainstream country music over the last 20 years. And last week, she stunned the world with that beautiful voice when she sang a last-minute a capella rendition of “America The Beautiful” at the inauguration of President Trump, which she handled with grace and received overwhelmingly positive reviews from people on both sides of the political aisle. Carrie crushed it. ?? pic.twitter.com/7C3Db9Lv4M — Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) January 20, 2025 Her initial decision to be there was of course met with a ton of backlash from some fans who didn’t like the fact that she was lending her talents to a President they don’t like or didn’t vote for, but Carrie, who has generally been pretty quiet on politics, responded with class, saying in a simple statement that she was “honored” to be asked to perform for the President and felt humbled to “answer the call” in an effort to display unity: “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event. I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.” She's reportedly "frustrated" with the backlash, though, specifically the scrutiny of her family which is very understandable, although it all certainly seemed to help boost album sales because she had EIGHT albums in the Top 100 of the iTunes country albums chart last week. Two of them were in the top two spots, and a third was at #9. The rest filled in throughout the other 100 spots. But of course, with the internet being the internet, some American Idol fans are still upset by her attendance and participation at the inauguration, and flooded the comments on the new teaser American Idol shared on Instagram last night, which gives fans a sneak peak of what's to come when the show airs on March 9th: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFWYDNsy8ea/ Many fans flooded the comments in support of Carrie, with many saying they'll be watching either for the first time ever, or the first time in years, because she's returning as a judge: "YES CARRIE!!!!!!! QUEEEEEEN!!!!!" "Watching just for Carrie this season!!" "This season is going to be incredible!" "This season will have some of the highest ratings of all time! Just WATCH!!!!!!!!" "Only watching this for Carrie!!" "Just here for Carrie!" "How can I watch this from Australia? So excited for Carrie Underwood." "Haven’t watched in years but will be just to see Carrie!" "Really happy to see Carrie Underwood." See? You can disagree with her politics (or what you assume to be her politics) and still watch the show... wild... Of course, there were plenty of other comments with fans saying they were planning to "boycott" this season because Carrie is a judge and they don't like that she performed at President Trump's inauguration: "PASS. Carrie Underwood aka Carrier Underwhelmed." "BOOOOOOOO!" "Should be on the traitors show." "Can we just boycott 'American Idol' and ban Carrie Underwood for life?" "No thanks, nobody should watch." "Nope. Not gonna watch, or vote. Poor pick for a new judge." "Miss MAGA… no thanks!" "The illegals are upset with Carrie." "Not watching due to Carrie MAGATART" "If Carrie Underwood is a judge not watching!" "I hope this show gets canceled because of the MAGA alliance." "NOT watching! You have Underwood to thank!!!" "Lol this show is for MAGA now, hope it tanks!" "Was so looking forward to this person I'm not watching can't support the show anymore so sad." "Dump Carrie or not watching." "Hard pass." "Not watching! Boycott Carrie Underwood" "Sorry NO!! Carrie is a MAGA disappointment. I will not support the show." "Disappointed in you. Do you support the raids of businesses etc for immigrants. Lost a fan." "Disappointed in Carrie. Wish I could go back in time and vote for Vonzell who ate her up with vocals and stage presence every week." It's not surprising to see the hateful comments directed at Carrie (this is social media, after all), who has never been political and always kept her opinions to herself and her family extremely private, but I don't think it will have any real effect on the ratings, and if anything, having a fan-favorite, incredibly successful alum come back in this position should help a lot. I think Carrie will make a great addition to the panel, and obviously no one knows more about what it’s like to go through being on the show more than anyone so she’ll be a great asset and wealth of knowledge for contestants. While you’re here, check out her audition video from almost 20 years ago when a baby-faced Carrie Underwood impressed judges with a beautiful rendition of the Bonnie Raitt classic “I Can’t Make You Love Me”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlrEFQ24SM