Why U.K. pop prince Sheeran judged 'American Idol' while Perry and Richie performed for King Charles
One of the U.K.âs biggest music stars seemingly sat out the U.K.âs biggest music event to judge one of America's biggest music TV shows. But that wasn't quite the case.
If youâve been following the royal news, then you know that the âman formerly known as Prince,â King Charles III, was ceremonially crowned this weekend, and two American Idol judges, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, performed at his Coronation Concert on Sunday. (Apparently Luke Bryanâs invitation got lost in the Royal Mail.) Even taking into account the eight-hour time difference between London and Hollywood, Katy and Lionel wouldnât have been able to get back to the Idol set in time, unless they pulled a Phil Collins-at-Live Aid stunt and somehow gained access to a still-functioning Concorde jet. So, Katy and Lionel were temporarily dethroned this week, and as Luke comfortably settled into Katyâs center seat (âThis chairâs so niiiice,â he cooed), he was flanked by two guest judges: the queen of â90s rock and, ironically, the current reigning prince of British pop.
The former, Katyâs own idol Alanis Morissette, pulled double-duty as both a mentor and judge, with the top eight semifinalists covering her songs. But the appearance by the latter guest judge, Ed Sheeran, was an especially interesting development, considering that one of the U.K.âs biggest music stars â whoâd supposedly been at the top of King Charlesâs concert wish list, alongside Adele â was sitting out the U.K.âs biggest music event to sit behind the desk of one of America's biggest music TV shows. But while other pop luminaries, including Kylie Minogue, Elton John, Harry Styles, the Spice Girls, Robbie Williams, and, yes, Adele had reportedly turned downs offers to perform for the new king, Ed was apparently never invited.
âLots of people are saying to me how it's random that [Katy and Lionel] are going to sing at the king's coronation. ... I want to clear something up, actually, because there was loads of stuff in the press that I turned down the coronation, and no one ever asked me, ever,â Ed recently stated in a SiriusXM interview. "I assume if they went online and went, 'What's Ed doing on May 6?' they would've been like, 'Oh, he's playing in Dallas.' I think that's what happened. But obviously, [the] press had the negative story of loads of people turning down the coronation. But I never, ever turned it down. I wasn't asked. But yeah, I am excited to tune in to that. Historic, isn't it?â
Stateside viewers were excited to tune in to Idol Sunday, as Edâs appearance occurred just two days after he historically won his big copyright case, when a jury ruled that he did not plagiarize Marvin Gaye's âLet's Get It Onâ for his own hit âThinking Out Loud.â And while Ed did not mention the lawsuit on the air, he was understandably in good spirits â almost too good, because he was so bloody nice that he doled out no constructive criticism whatsoever, merely repeating how delighted he was to be there and how impressed he was by the top eight contestants duet versions of his songs. (Ed certainly had little in common with his tough-talking British predecessor, Simon Cowell.) Ed had vowed to quit music if he lost his âThinking Out Loudâ suit, and on Friday outside the courthouse he joked to reporters, âIt looks like I'm not having to retire from my day job after all!â So, he probably didnât see this one-off Idol appearance as his unofficial audition to be a permanent judge.
Meanwhile, as the top eight performed Sunday, Katy and Lionel did check in all night long (heh) from the Grand Reception Room at Londonâs Windsor Castle â and they were joined by two surprise guests of high honor. The just-crowned King Charles III and Queen Camilla themselves made a surprise appearance, with Charles interrupting the judges to ask, âI just wanted to check how long youâll be using this room for?â before praising Richieâs âbrilliant performanceâ at the Coronation Concert. (Richie reportedly arranged the royal coupleâs on-air Idol cameo.) Depending on how much of a royalist one is, this could be seen as a slumming moment for the king and queen or for Katy and Lionel â but it made for good, historic television.
Eventually, it all got back to Idol business as usual, and at the end of Sundayâs two-hour episode, after 21 million live coast-to-coast votes, three of Season 21âs eight contestants went home: Warren Peay, Haven Madison, and Oliver Steele. Only Warrenâs exit was truly surprising, considering how well country singers usually fare on Idol, but it seems most of the country votes went to Colin Stough and, possibly, Megan Danielle. As for the other two eliminees, Haven peaked weeks ago, and while Oliver had also seemed like an early fan favorite, after landing in the bottom three last week and apparently feeling like he had nothing to lose this week, he took a big risk that ultimately didnât pay off. However, Oliver seemed the happiest among the top eight contestants to get a chance to meet Ed, even exclaiming, âYouâre my hero!â to him from the stage. So, in a way, he got to be king for a day.
Below are all of the performances that received the royal treatment, so to speak, from Alanis and Ed this week.
ALANIS SOLOS:
Warren Peay, âAll I Really Wantâ
Warren chose to ditch his guitar, and I think he needed it; he was already out of his comfort zone as it was, opening the show with a â90s Lilith Fair song, and he admitted he was nervous. Maybe having his guitar would have helped him survive and make the top five the week. That being said, the uptempo rock tune was a decent fit for his voice, and he mostly understood the assignment when Alanis advised him to âstart smallâ and build the dynamics. By the end of the performance, he finally found his confidence, and found his literal footing as worked the crowd and stage. Fellow axeman Ed was impressed, empathetically admitting, âI am someone who always has a guitar and always uses it as a barrier between me and the audience, and I always feel naked without it. And I think you really shined without the guitar.â
Zachariah Smith, âIronicâ
Honestly, I think it would have been kind of a genius move for this often manic and unhinged performer to do a gender-flipped take on Alanisâs most manic and unhinged song, âYou Oughta Know.â (Instead â spoiler alert! â it would be another male maverick of Season 21 whoâd take a risk with that famous revenge anthem. And that didnât turn out so well⊠so maybe Zach chose wisely after all. ) âIronicâ was a more subtle song selection, but it did allow Zachariah to soar in the chorus, and it was probably a good â if not textbook-definition-ironic â omen when Zachariah and Alanis were rehearsing outdoors and a downpour actually started during that âitâs like raaaaayy-ay-ainnnnnâ line. Ed told him, âI think your voice is super-super-powerful, and I was captivated through the whole thing.â Alanis loved the freedom and âliquidityâ of Zachariah onstage movements. And Luke appreciated Zachâs new sense of dynamics this week, saying, âA lot of times you come out full-speed ahead⊠but you had some tender moments in there.â
Haven Madison, âYou Learnâ
Haven teased that she was going to showcase her falsetto for the first time this season, but she just sang in her full voice instead. However, she was always more of a songwriter than singer (I kind of wish sheâd pulled an Alejandro Aranda and done originals all season; if she had, we might be seeing her in the top five), so the falsetto shtick probably wouldnât have worked out anyway. Ed was being quite hyperbolic when he kindly described her performance as âvocally, it was nuts,â but it was solid enough. And it was obvious that working with Alanis, the woman she said âlaid the blueprint,â meant a lot to Haven. Alanis praised Havenâs âconfidence and agencyâ and â perhaps sensing that Havenâs time was up â urged the budding teen artist to keep pursuing her dream, proudly telling Haven, âYou have that inside-out, music-in-your-body thing.â
Colin Stough, âHand in My Pocketâ
I knew Colin had the potential for another big moment this week, since his two standout performances of the season were when he stepped outside the country genre with Robyn and Staind covers. And my hunch was correct! Heeding the judgesâ previous advice to get ânastyâ and Alanisâs instruction to âmake it imperfect,â Colin let his rawness work for him. The result was the performance of a rising rock star. Alanis âdid not see that coming!â and said Colin âput a whole new life into that song for me,â praising the âbig, bombastic beautifulnessâ of this cover. Ed was a fan, gushing, âThatâs really, really up my alley. I loved how it rocked out at the end, but also how you gave it a different spin in the beginning. ⊠It was brilliant.â It was this performance that, I believe, edged out the more experienced but less versatile Warren this week.
Megan Danielle, âHead Over Feetâ
This was my favorite performance from Danielle so far. Not only did this romantic ballad showcase her rasp to stunning effect, but she exuded a new confidence and womanly maturity, probably because she dedicated the song to her much-adored boyfriend. (That little smitten giggle at the end was everything.) Alanis thought Danielle âreally authenticallyâ captured the âambivalenceâ of the conflicted lyrics, and Luke told Danielle, âYou made it real inviting. ⊠Your voice makes that happen naturally.â And Ed, hearing Danielleâs unique vocals for the first time, was the most impressed and even shocked, raving, âI genuinely forgot for a second that we were on American Idol. I thought we were watching a classic singer from the â60s or something. Your tone is incredible.â
Iam Tongi, âGuardianâ
This was a lesser-known song from 2012, as opposed to Alanisâs golden â90s era, and for any other contestant, the choice would have been a risk. However, for Iam â whose first breakout moment of the season was a dedication to his late father â tenderly crooning this family-themed ballad for his mother was a total slam dunk. Ed called this âreally, really beautiful,â and Iam was so flattered that he adorably blushed. âListening to Iam sing it as if I was his mom brought me to tears,â Alanis sighed during rehearsal, later saying, âYou took what we shared and brainstormed together to a whole new level. I have to think of baseball or Iâll start weeping! You have this empathy in your voice⊠and the planet needs empathy more than ever.â
WĂ© Ani, âUninvitedâ
There was great potential for great drama with this cinematic City of Angels power ballad, and powerhouse diva WĂ© certainly was selling the drama. This was the perfect choice for her, as she boldly delivered the song to an unnamed ex in a way that the queen of all breakup songs, Alanis herself, described as âchilling to behold. ⊠I wanted to believe that youâre singing this to somebody. ⊠It was just directly communicating and so beautiful.â Luke declared this the best cover of âUninvitedâ that heâd ever heard on Idol, and Ed said, âI loved how the arrangement and style of it really just showcased every bit of your voice. ⊠It was very, very powerful.â
Oliver Steele, âYou Oughta Knowâ
And now for something completely different! Almost getting eliminated last week âdefinitely lit a fire underâ Oliver, so he decided, âI think itâs about time I wake people up!â Well, he certainly did that. Doing a song âcoming from a place of anger and rage,â the typically gentle troubadour showed âa different sideâ and, as Alanis put it, âbrought a masculine vulnerability that a lot of men are told they canât feel.â I think if Oliver had done a truly vulnerable, stripped-back acoustic version of the song, it would have worked. But this was a copycat karaoke version, and it just felt off-brand for him. And while the reveal of his newly shaved head at the end of the performance was a classic reality TV moment and also a lovely gesture of solidarity for his ailing, bald father (who was in the studio audience), the makeover seemed to have the same damning, Samson/Felicity-like that Michael Williamsâs drastic haircut had a few weeks ago. Alanis said she âloved the idea of [Oliver] embracing the âunpopularsâ: angry, devastated, sad, terrified,â but this performance was in fact unpopular, and it was Oliverâs unfortunate undoing. But kudos to him for trying something new and going out, as Luke put it, âwith swords and guns blazing.â
ED DUETS:
Iam Tongi & Oliver Steele, âPhotographâ
This was a recreation of this dream teamâs magic moment from Hollywood Weekâs duets round, and the magic was definitely still there. But it was clear that since then, Oliverâs âlittle brotherâ Iam had become Season 21âs breakout superstar: The live audience roared every time Iam opened his mouth to sing. Even Oliver noticed and prophetically told Iam, âI donât know if Iâll go home tonight, but if I do, my moneyâs on you!â Sweetly, there was no competitiveness between these fast friends, and the two gracious guys were totally connected throughout. âHow well your voices complement each other, that was so beautiful to listen to. ⊠Just the gentleness and soulfulness youâre bringing, I got emotional listening to that,â gushed Ed.
Warren Peay & WĂ© Ani, âPerfectâ
This was an intriguing opposites-attract pairing â the key word of that sentence being âattract.â With WĂ© ably taking on the BeyoncĂ© role in this classic Ed duet, these two gave a CMT Crossroads-level performance that totally worked. If Warren had been this good during his solo, he might have stayed. Alanis praised their âmassiveâ ranges, both vocally and emotionally; Luke told him they âreally did something pretty specialâ; and Ed said, âThat was really, really, really cool. I love both of your voices. Iâm just so happy to be here.â
Zachariah Smith & Haven Madison, âThinking Out Loudâ
This was weakest of the nightâs duets, but I suppose it was nice that Zach and Haven were able to perform âThinking Out Loudâ without any fear of legal ramifications. Again, Ed made no comment about his recent court battle over this wedding ballad, merely saying, âI usually find when people cover my songs, they do them better than I do! It was really soulful, really powerful, and I really, really enjoyed it.â Alanis called this âvery loose and very free and very precious in the best way,â while Luke expressed appreciation for Zachariahâs rarely seen âtender sideâ and quipped, âI have âsmile crampsâ. ... I just smiled the whole time. ⊠Just good vibes, all around.â
Megan Danielle & Colin Stough, âDiveâ
This was an especially heavenly match. Ed marveled, âWhoever put you two together was a genius. ⊠You complement each other so well,â and Alanis described their shared âplaintive cryâ and connection as âalmost familial.â Luke noticed that belter Megan was unsurprisingly more comfortable with the big, rangy song (which Megan and Colin picked themselves) and ABBA-style back-to-back staging, but said this was a âsweet momentâ and assured the endearingly awkward Colin, âYou survived it!â And they literally survived, as Sundayâs only two duet partners that werenât torn apart by the public vote by the eveningâs end.
Megan and Colinâs joint performance seemed like a foreshadowing of the Season 21 finale, but before one of the remaining top five contestants experiences a different sort of coronation on that night, they will all compete at another sort of Magic Kingdom, on next week's Disney Night. See you then.
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