Going into his eighth season of American Idol, Luke Bryan‘s identified his superpower as a judge.
“I can read a fainter when they’re about to faint,” he told Jimmy Fallon during a Tonight Show appearance with co-stars Carrie Underwood and Lionel Richie.
“We had one kid, and I went behind him and kind of patted him down, and he was 157 degrees, his body temperature,” Luke said.
Luke and Lionel agreed Carrie said yes to so many contenders in the beginning that they were wondering if she was ever going to say no. The American Idol winner admitted she’s pretty codependent with the contestants, revealing she’s more than happy to offer lyrics if you’re nervous: “I got you. I will help you.”
The three agreed contestants often try to curry favor by performing their songs, though it seems far from a sure thing.
“They think it’s to compliment us,” Lionel offered, “but some days we’re just praying, ‘Please God, just let them be able to sing it.’ And sometimes they nail it and sometimes it goes south real fast.”
Luke, Lionel and Jimmy also played the Name That Song Challenge against “human jukebox” Carrie. You can check out The Tonight Show segments online to see how they did ahead of Idol‘s Sunday premiere on ABC.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
