Carrie Underwood has found herself the next Taylor Swift on Sunday’s new episode of the ABC reality competition series…Zaylie – a young American Idol contestant.
The singer – who reunited with Idol runner up Bo Bice 20 years after they appeared on the series – offered some high praise for young singer Zaylie Windsor.
The 18-year-old took part in the virtual Idol Across America auditions when she was 17, and was told she would audition for judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.
The teenager performed an original song for the judges entitled The Used, which she said she wrote when she was just 14 years old.
The judges clearly had some doubts, though her talent ultimately shined through, with Underwood comparing her to Swift, who released her first album when she was just 15.
Many fans were quick to praise Zaylie as well, and Carrie had this to say about the performance: ‘You showed us a lot in your voice, and you can go from being small and focused to, like, soaring.
”And I’m impressed at the song, as well. I feel like you’ve got a lot of artistry in there.’
Zaylie added, ‘Thank you. It’s about a breakup. Not only the breakup part, but the process after, trying to kind of figure out who you are without that person.’
Luke admitted, ‘the song certainly did sound like a 14-year-old kind of level of song to me, but, yeah, gosh, I don’t think she’s quite ready.’
Zaylie then asked, ‘Could I play you one that’s higher in my verses?’ Luke added, ‘I’m just trying to see if Carrie wants to fight for you or not. It’s a no for me.’
‘But it’s like, she doesn’t have these, like, just giant vibrato, like, belt-y voice. But there’s something in there,’ Carrie said.
Underwood added, ‘If she did that at 14, like, she must have a lot of other things in her arsenal that she could bring to the table.’
When Lionel asked what her vote would be, Carrie said, ‘I would roll the dice because we do have those people that are, like, coming in here, like, guns blazing with attitude, like, owning the stage, sucking us in. But I feel like there’s something about her,’ before confirming her vote was a yes.
Richie added, ‘You’ve won me over and confirmed me,’ adding his yes to Carrie’s, sending young Zaylie to Hollywood.
