When Katy Perry announced her departure from “American Idol,” Carrie Underwood was the obvious pick to join the judging panel, according to showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick, saying “all roads led to Carrie.”
“Katy was a huge cornerstone of ‘American Idol’ as far as a presence and a personality, so you can never replace her — It’s just a new era of the show,” Michaels Wolflick said.
Perry’s departure led viewers to fancast which female pop star could take her place on the judging panel alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, but Michaels Wolflick said the team was “excited by the idea of celebrating someone who had been in the shoes of the finalists and had been on that journey.”
“It just made so much sense to put [Carrie] in there, because she was bringing something new to the table that we never had before,” Michaels Wolflick said. “That firsthand experience is something that any other judge who’s ever been on the show can talk for years about what it’s like to stand on the oval, though they don’t know.”
With Underwood having a relationship with the show — and Michaels Wolflick — over the past 20 years since she won Season 4 of the singing competition show back in 2005, Michaels Wolflick described the decision for the country singer to join the judging panel as a “mutual conversation,” which happened rather shortly after the Season 22 finale.
Despite being on the show two decades ago, Michaels Wolflick noted that Underwood holds her “American Idol” roots near and dear to her heart, saying “she kept a journal through the whole thing — She remembers every single little detail about every single thing.”
Now in the judge’s chair, Michaels Wolflick said Underwood is “having a blast” alongside Richie and Bryan, who fall right into the dynamic of “big brothers” to Underwood, according to Michaels Wolflick. With her judging tenure on “Idol” marking the first time Underwood has participated longterm in a competition show, Michaels Wolflick noted her personality will be a “discovery” for most fans.
“It’s going to be an amazing discovery for people when they watch Carrie and see how warm and kind and funny she is,” Michaels Wolflick said. “People might have an opinion about her, of what kind of personality that she is and what her interests are, and it’s like an onion — you discover so many layers throughout the season.”
Underwood’s return to Season 23 of “American Idol” comes just two months after she made headlines for performing at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in January.
“That was her decision,” Michaels Wolflick said. “Katy Perry, who was a judge on our show, sang at the last inauguration as well, so isn’t that great that two ‘American Idol’ judges sang at the last two inaugurations?” (Jennifer Lopez, another past “Idol” judge has also performed at a previous inauguration.)
Michaels Wolflick also pointed to the technical difficulties that forced Underwood to sing “America the Beautiful” a capella, which the showrunner said Underwood “handled very well.”
“She held her own, and she remained cool, calm and collected, and I think a lot of that has to do with ‘Idol’ and all of her live experience, starting at a young age, being on live television for ‘Idol,’” Michaels Wolflick said.
Underwood isn’t the only new addition to “American Idol” this season, with Jelly Roll coming on board the ABC show as the show’s first artist in residence, a role that Michaels Wolflick said was especially for him. After Jelly Roll performed on “Idol” two years ago and served as a mentor last year, Michaels Wolflick noted “every time he steps onto our set … he just has an electricity to him and a passion for ‘Idol’ as a brand,” adding that he sat in the trenches with the finalists until 2 a.m. during Hollywood week.
“He has been in their shoes quite recently — he knows how the music industry works right now,” Michaels Wolflick said, adding that his “Cinderella” story of climbing the music ranks “is what ‘American Idol’ represents.”
Michaels Wolflick’s hope is that Jelly Roll stays on in his role past the upcoming season, noting how great he’s been with the contestants. “He’s a shoulder to cry on; he’s the guy on the sidelines who’s going to give you the high five and help you out if you’re crying, which I think is a critical role … in any artist’s life,” she said.
Both Underwood and Jelly Roll bring a cross-genre approach to crafting rising stars, with Michaels Wolflick noting “genre, I think, isn’t as siloed as it once was, as far as being in a box and you can’t get out of it.”
“We’re trying to find superstars — whatever that means,” she said. “When Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson won the show, was Carrie and Kelly first and foremost. It wasn’t Carrie and Kelly, the pop star, the country star. We were looking for those iconic moments.”
On the heels of his two Grammy nominations and several other recent accolades, Michaels Wolflick noted Jelly Roll is in the current zeitgeist, making for a mix of legends and up and comers appearing in each season. “The show is all about updating and constantly staying fresh and relevant,” Michaels Wolflick said.
With the season premiere marking “Idol’s” 700th episode, Michaels Wolflick noted the show will cross “1 billion views of digital content this season on ABC alone.” And the post-Oscars preview episode scored 5.93 million viewers and delivered a rating of 0.84 in the key broadcast demo among adults 18-49, marking its highest rating in both demographics for a season launch in three years.
“The music industry has changed so much since we first started on this show, and I think we have to keep up with the times, whatever that may be,” Michaels Wolflick said. “There’s no playbook, but I think we just constantly have to be changing what we do and how we carve things out to be relevant and to be exciting.”
“American Idol” premieres Sunday, March 9, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, and streams next day on Hulu.
