American Idol: Katy Perry was so moved by Cassandra Coleman’s performance

Katy Perry found an unusual way to express her love for a singer’s vocals on Sunday’s episode of American Idol, revealing the hair on her legs was standing up.

The 36-year-old singer used her legs to show just how awed she was by Cassandra Coleman’s performance during the Top 24’s All-Star Duets and Solos round on Sunday night.

She’d already said last week that listening to the redheaded coffee shop manager from Columbia, Tennessee, reminded her of her friend Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine.

This week, she suggested that the 24-year-old Cassandra was incomparable on both her solo, Sigma’s Find Me, and duet, Apologize, with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, 41.

‘Your voice is a spiritual experience,’ Katy told the contestant. ‘It is otherworldly angelic. And as a new mother, I don’t have very much time, so I’ve quit shaving my legs. But when you sang, the hair on my legs grew an inch-and-a-half. So—full body chills! It was amazing.’

Katy gave birth to her daughter Daisy Dove Bloom, seven months, back in August 2020.

While speaking to Cassandra, she propped her legs up on the desk in front of her, and judge Luke Bryan, 44, stroked one of them quickly to discern whether she was telling the truth.

‘She literally has leg hair,’ he marveled, as Katy whooped and pumped her arms.

The Roar singer may have felt like doing that more than once on Sunday’s show, as a number of contestants scored standing ovations and had the judges up and dancing.

Show host Ryan Seacrest, 46, promised viewers it would be the most music Idol had ever shown in a two-hour span, featuring 24 songs—one a solo, one a duet.

On Sunday and Monday, two separate groups of 12 contestants would sing twice, with their fate to be decided by viewers—not judges—at an unusually early stage.

Masked Idol superfans sat in ‘pods’ with their immediate households around Idol’s new venue, as the contestants cheered for each other on the sidelines.

The first person to sing was Alanis Sophia, 19, a college student from Dade City, Florida, who rocked Sia’s Alive then joined country star Jimmie Allen, 34, to cover Lady Gaga’s Shallow.

Katy called Alanis’ solo performance ‘controlled and beautiful,’ saying it allowed her to be in the driver’s seat—but she worried Alanis was ‘overwhelmed’ on her duet with Jimmie.

College student Alyssa Wray, 18, from Perryville, Kentucky, did Carrie Underwood’s Something in the Water, then sang Whitney Houston’s I’m Your Baby Tonight with Katharine McPhee, 37.

‘Watching you perform is like watching somebody trying to keep a cap on a volcano,’ Lionel Richie, 71, told Alyssa. ‘And then the two of you together complimented each other so well.’

Wyatt Pike, 20, a college student from Park City, Utah, sang Tate McRae’s Rubberband, then jammed like a veteran with Ben Rector, 34, on his tune Brand New.

‘Wyatt, it looks like you rolled out of bed, and instead of getting slick and polished you took all that time and practiced and rehearsed, and stepped into your stardom,’ Katy said. ‘You are an authentic superstar musician; you could go on tour today and fit in right now.’

Luke called watching Wyatt an ‘emotional’ experience because it made him realize that this season of Idol was clicking ‘on all cylinders’ and Wyatt was ‘so right in your moment, right now. I can’t tell you anything to do different. Be you.’

‘You know it’s something when you’ve got Luke crying,’ Lionel teased.

Alana, 22, a food delivery driver from Lakewood Ranch, Florida, had Katy on her feet with Dua Lipa’s Blow Your Mind (Mwah), then covered Back at One with Brian McKnight, 51.

‘You have the stage presence and the energy to be a star,’ Lionel told Alana. ‘Now you need the attitude. Give us more attitude.’

Anilee List, 20, a college student from Los Angeles, did a jazzy version of Billie Eilish’s My Future, then covered Rufus & Chaka Khan’s Tell Me Something Good with Joss Stone, 33.

She earned a standing ovation from all three judges, with Luke saying, ‘You are so close to next-level greatness. And it was great seeing you up there having a good time, too.’

DeShawn Goncalves, 20, a college student from Cleveland, offered up a fresh take on Bob Dylan’s Forever Young, then dueted with Tedder on OneRepublic’s I Lived.

‘I think you have one of the most unique Top 3 voices in this competition,’ Katy told DeShawn. ‘Now you just have to let your body not be so stiff, because then I’ll know you’re having fun.’

Graham DeFranco, 27, an aerial survey pilot from Rockwell, Texas, impressed with his smooth versions of John Splithoff’s Raye and Love Like This, sung with its songwriter, Rector.

‘Man, your voice is so listenable,’ Luke told Graham after he finished. ‘You’re able to turn songs into your style, and that’s why you’re on this stage. That was a great job.’

Andrea Valles, 23, a wedding singer from Houston, wowed with a fluttery take on Billie Eilish and Rosalia’s Los Vas a Olvidar and covered George Michael’s Careless Whisper with Brian.

Andrea wore an eye patch because she’d recently had eye retina detachment surgery and joked that viewers could call her ‘Arg-drea.’

The judges loved her, and Lionel noted that she had just gone toe-to-toe with ‘one of the smoothest voices in the business,’ and stood out.

‘Are you okay?’ Katy asked Andrea afterward. ‘I was just like, “Is everyone going to ignore that she’s wearing the coolest eye patch ever?” You’re the only one singing with one eye today and you’re doing a really great job. And you’re making it look really fashionable.’

Cecil Ray, 20, a machine operator from Cameron, Texas, was too nasal on Tracey Lawrence’s Paint Me A Birmingham but recovered in his duet with Jimmie on Freedom Was a Highway.

During rehearsals, Jimmie told ‘Big Daddy C’ that he saw a lot of himself in the younger man’s story, and even put his number into the contestant’s phone so he could reach him if needed.

‘You’re the underdog here,’ Katy told Cecil after he sang. ‘I think everyone wants to root for you, but you’ve got to root for yourself. Just give it a little bit more—c’mon!’

Willie Spence, 21, a caretaker from Douglas, Georgia, gave an R&B lift to Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings, and soared on Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli’s The Prayer, with Katharine.

Willie dedicated the song to his late grandfather, who’d loved it—and Katharine, the mom of four-week-old Rennie, dedicated it to her father whom she lost three years ago.

‘You do no wrong in my eyes,’ Luke told Willie, whose heartbreaking duet earned him a standing ovation from the judges. ‘Part of being a star is making people fall in love with you and man, I’m just in love with you and the way you go about being onstage.’

The episode’s closing act was Grace Kinstler, 20, a college student from Lakewood, Illinois, who did a saucy take on Jessie J’s Queen, then overshadowed Joss with her vocals on Gladys Knight & The Pips’ Midnight Train to Georgia.

‘Let me just compose myself,’ Lionel told Grace. ‘Your voice quality and who you are with that voice, your confidence, the way you portray yourself onstage—it’s a winning package.’

American Idol returns Monday with the final 12 of the Top 24’s All-Star Duets and Solos on ABC.