It’s been 20 years since Carrie Underwood was a contestant on American Idol, but she still has keepsakes from her time on the show. One of those mementos was actually a gift from Paula Abdul, who was judging the singing competition alongside Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell at the time.
In the latest episode of her Idol to Icon YouTube series, Underwood reflected on her Top 5 performance of “God Bless the Broken Road.” While she agreed with Cowell’s critique that she was a bit “robotic” on stage, it was one of her accessories that really caught her attention.
“I just realized the ring on my finger Paula gave me,” Underwood recalled. “She came by and gave all of us jewelry one time, and I still have that ring. It’s diamonds, it’s so pretty.”
Something else that she still has from her American Idol days is the dress that she wore during the Season 4 finale. She was wearing the frock when she was announced as the winner in 2005 and re-wore it on a recent episode of the show as a judge. Yes, it still fit!
ABC
Since the country singer has been through this process herself, she’s able to relate to the contestants she’s judging this season. There are now just seven artists left, but that will be dwindled down to the Top 5 after this Sunday’s episode. From there, three will move onto the May 18 finale, where a winner will be crowned.
It was around this time in the competition that Underwood started having doubts about her fate, as she explained, “I think I was a little worried after that performance, after that night in general, that I’d be going home. I think it was, like, Top 3, to be honest, where I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I might actually win this thing.’ I think at Top 5, I was still very cautiously optimistic.”
American Idol, Season 23, Sundays and Mondays, 8/7c, ABC