“You have a great voice,” Underwood gushed of Humbert’s vocal talents after she auditioned for Idol with “Before He Cheats.”
Sophia Humbert, Photo Courtesy of American Idol via ABC
Sophia Humbert entered her American Idol audition with dreams of following in Carrie Underwood’s footsteps, but little did she know, her journey would involve destroying a truck while belting out “Before He Cheats.”
Sophia Humbert Hopes To One Day Become The Next Carrie Underwood
Ahead of her audition, Idol host Ryan Seacrest asked the contestant about her dreams, to which Humbert replied, “the dream is to be an artist, write my own music and go on tour.” Sophia Humbert then admitted that she hopes to one day become the next Carrie Underwood, “The first songs I learned on guitar were Carrie Underwood songs. Singing those songs were a highlight of my childhood.”
The contestant introduced herself to Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan as a 22-year-old from “a small little town” called Anthem, Arizona, where “not much goes on.” Sophia Humbert then made her way to the grand piano for her impressive American Idol audition.
Auditioned For American Idol With “Before He Cheats”
Seated at the piano in the Los Angeles audition room, the aspiring singer and musician delivered a powerful rendition of Carrie Underwood’s “Before She Cheats,” dressed in a white sweater under a black leather jacket, paired with blue jeans and white sneakers.
“I dug my key into the side/ Of his pretty little souped up four-wheel drive/ Carved my name into his leather seats/ I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights/ Slashed a hole in all four tires/ Maybe next time, he’ll think before he cheats,” Humbert sang, as she belted out the lyrics to the massive country hit in front of the star-studded panel of American Idol judges.
Idol Judges Loved Her Voice, But Wanted More “Rage”
Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood and Lionel Richie then offered commentary on Sophia Humbert’s Idol audition.
“That was lovely!” Bryan gushed.
“You have a great voice. Yeah. I feel like a song like that though has to have a little rage in there somewhere. Did you get angry? I do get angry. It has to go somewhere. You got to dig down deep,” Underwood said, before offering her advice that would’ve complimented her audition. “When I sing songs like that… like I’m not an angry person… but everybody has stress or pent-up frustrations or whatever, and it has to go somewhere. And the reason I love songs like that is because even though I would never do something like that, it’s like you get to sing your way through it.”
Bryan added, “You’re singing it in front of Carrie Underwood. “She’s literally the sweetest person in the world, but I didn’t know that until I got on the show with her. I thought she knocked headlights out of stuff and totaled nice trucks.”
Luke Bryan Tasks Sophia With Destroying A Pickup Truck While Singing
“You’ve got to amp this thing up…” Bryan continued before introducing an idea to get Humbert to sing an angrier version of the Underwood hit. “I’ve got the plan. Let’s do it. It’s exercise time.” The Idol judges and Humbert then hopped onto a golf cart and headed outside to a rusty old red pickup truck, similar to the truck in Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” music video, where they were outfitted with protective gear and handed a “Louisville Slugger.”
“This is an accelerated course on angst, anger, frustration…” Luke Bryan said, requesting that Sophia Humbert sing “Before He Cheats” again, but this time while she and the Idol judges destroyed the pickup truck. Humbert, Underwood, Bryan, and Richie each took turns taking swings at the truck — smashing windows, keying the sides, and perfectly bringing Underwood’s cheating anthem to life.
Scored A Golden Ticket To Hollywood
Following Humbert’s more angsty version of “Before He Cheats,” Richie, Underwood and Bryan voted.
Ultimately, Sophia Humbert earned three ‘yes’ votes from the Idol judges, scoring a golden ticket and advancing to Hollywood.
