‘American Idol’ Contestant Who Slammed Luke Bryan Says She’s ‘Better Than What You Saw’ on the Show
ABC’s American Idol Season 22 showcases massively talented artists, and Madai ChaKell captured America’s attention from the get-go. However, her attitude during her most recent performance had fans disliking her — especially after she called out Luke Bryan’s singing. Here’s what ChaKell said about American Idol after the incident with the country singer.
‘American Idol’ contestant Madai ChaKell talked about how the show exposed her ‘flaws’ after she slammed Luke Bryan
American Idol Season 22 is shaping into another phenomenal season with seriously talented artists. Madai ChaKell made a splash with judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie during her theatrical performance of Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” for the audition phase. But fans started to turn on her after day one in Hollywood. ChaKell stopped her performance of Ariana Grande’s “Tattooed Heart” twice due to issues she felt she was having with the pianist.
Bryan and ChaKell exchanged words about her performance. He asked ChaKell if her voice was “100%” that day. She admitted it wasn’t as pitch-perfect as she hoped. While backstage, she didn’t appreciate Bryan’s callout.
“Is your voice ok, Luke?” she said. “Because I haven’t heard you sing! Obviously, I can sing.”
ChaKell spoke about her American Idol experience on The Wet Slap podcast. “It’s definitely made me go harder,” she said of her time on the show. “Because I’m like, it’s not me. That’s not the real me. I’m better than what you saw on American Idol, for sure. It’s crazy how this thing catapulted me, and it’s showing my flaws to a degree that’s, like … it’s giving just not it.”
The country star thinks Madai ChaKell needs to compete on ‘American Humble’
Madai ChaKell’s Hollywood solo performance on American Idol Season 22 started shaky. “It didn’t start off right, so it was throwing me, because I’m like, wait, am I messing up?” she told the cameras about the first blunder. “My pianist completely just flipped the script on what we practiced. But, it wasn’t me.”
ChaKell walked off the stage and then returned. The judges welcomed her back to try the arrangement again. “In this moment, your moment, we want you in the most comfortable situation possible,” Bryan told her when she returned.
“OK, with that being said, can I have a chair perhaps?” ChaKell said to Bryan. “Because I’m getting a little shaky.” Lionel Richie pointed out a chair behind her, and she took a seat.
ChaKell gave another performance, and Bryan questioned why she annunciated the song’s final word, “heart,” to sound like a country singer.
“You know, you said something before,” she said. “You were like, ‘I don’t really know who I am quite yet.’ So, I wanted to show that I could be everyone and everything. Isn’t that what an American Idol is?”
“Maybe we’ll do American Humble at some point,” Bryan joked when ChaKell left the stage.
Luke Bryan didn’t want to push her past the audition stage
American Idol Season 22 contestant Madai ChaKell made it through the audition phase of the show — but only thanks to Lionel Richie and Katy Perry. Luke Bryan didn’t vote for her to move forward. This may be why she called him out in Hollywood.
ChaKell started her audition singing Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” but the judges wanted to see her voice stripped away from the theatrics. Perry asked her to sing “Happy Birthday,” which ChaKell performed beautifully. This performance was enough to convince Perry and Richie to move her forward.
“I think you’re still a year or two away from really perfecting who you are as the individual artist,” Bryan said as a critique.
American Idol Season 22 airs on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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