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ABC’s American Idol Season 22 is here, and fans are excited to watch Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan take the stage as the judges. The three judges have built a rapport with each other through the years. However, Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s body language expert noticed that Richie shows “contempt” when disagreeing with the other judges. Here’s what he does.

Lionel Richie shows ‘contempt’ toward the other ‘American Idol’ Season 22 judges, according to a body language expert

Lionel Richie is a fan-favorite judge on American Idol Season 22, and fans look forward to hearing his feedback. The 74-year-old joined the show in 2018 and has grown accustomed to working alongside country superstar Luke Bryan and pop sensation Katy Perry. However, Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s body language expert, Darren Stanton, explained how Richie shows “contempt” when disagreeing with the other judges.

Stanton explained that the human face can show seven emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, contempt, disgust, and surprise. “I’ve noticed that when Lionel Richie disagrees with the decision that the other two judges have made, he will flash contempt. This gives us a great insight into what his inner emotion is.”

Fans can see a split second of this reaction in Richie following Jack Blocker’s audition. Bryan voted for Blocker to move forward to Hollywood, but Richie and Perry voted against it. After Blocker was sent out of the room, Bryan was appalled that the judges didn’t vote to move Blocker forward. The crew members told the judges they hoped to see Blocker head to Hollywood, and Blocker was brought back into the room. Richie changed his vote, sending Blocker to the next round.

Lionel Richie said he and the other judges were ‘tiptoeing’ around each other during their first season

'American Idol' Season 22 judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan standing up and yelling during auditions
‘American Idol’ judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan | Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images
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The dynamic between Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan, and Katie Perry in American Idol Season 22 differs significantly from when the show first began. Lionel told USA Today that he and the others used to “tiptoe” around each other. Now, they say exactly how they feel.

“We can actually say things to each other and not take it personal,” Richie explained. “The first season, we were all kind of tiptoeing around, (making) sure ‘I don’t want to offend you. You don’t want to offend me.’”

Richie added that he doesn’t always know whether he’s making the right decision on the show, which is tricky to mentally navigate later. “We’ll even leave the show for the evening and play it back in our heads (and wonder), ‘Was that the right decision? Did I throw the baby out with the bath water?’” he explained. “It lingers for a while.”

He talked about why he cries on the show

Lionel Richie isn’t scared to get emotional on American Idol, and fans will see his tears in season 22. He explained why he cries on the series while visiting The Drew Barrymore Show.

“You see us in tears on the show, for example. It’s not because we’re sitting there emotionally involved in their careers. We’re sitting there as parents,” Richie said. ” … When you see us sitting there, the first thing we say is, ‘Please, God, be able to sing.’ Because the last thing I want to do is send you away. And, most of the time, we know they can.”

American Idol Season 22 airs on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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