“American Idol” is kicking off its 23rd season with a bang.
During Sunday’s episode of the singing competition show, judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan were left nearly speechless after contestant Sophie Powers – a 20-year-old from Toronto – performed an original song called “STFU.”
Before Powers entered the audition room, Underwood – who won “Idol” in 2005 and has returned to the show two decades later as a judge – spoke about her hopes for the 23rd season.
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“I want to see somebody at the end of this thing dominating the airwaves and the charts,” Underwood said. “I want to see a huge artist come out of it.”
Enter Sophie, who kick-started her audition by describing her song as a “tear-jerker.”
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“I had a pet lizard named George / He was cool but he made me really bored,” she began her song. “So I gave him to my mom and she loves him very much because animals are better than people / They tried to cancel me, cancel me / Bother me, bother me / Stop bothering me / I don’t even like my job.”
“Karens, shut the f— up / Vegans, shut the f— up / Babies, shut the f— up / Everyone needs to shut the f— up / Laundry, shut the f— up / War, shut the f— up / Dinosaurs, shut the f— up / Everyone needs to shut the f— up / Traffic, shut the f— up / People, shut the f— up/ Groceries, shut the f— up/ Everyone needs to shut the f— up.”
While the judges were visibly confused, Powers asked Richie how he was feeling.
“Mortified,” Richie responded.
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“My wife will play me that song every evening,” Bryan joked. “You should’ve put ‘Luke, shut the f— up.’”
“You clearly have a thing going,” Underwood said. “You’re interesting. Obviously, in the context of ‘American Idol,’ I don’t know where you would fit in here.”
“Neither do I, I’m literally Canadian,” the singer-songwriter responded.
With three “No’s”, Powers thanked the judges before leaving the room.
Viewers were quick to share their thoughts on the unique audition.
“When her parents told her, ‘Sophie, just be yourself,’ Sophie took that as a challenge,” one viewer commented on YouTube. “Loved this audition, and loved her. I wish they had let her go to Hollywood, just so I can see what she would sing next.”
“She’s gonna be the most famous from this season,” another wrote.
