With the season 23 premiere of American Idol just two days away, viewers won’t see Katy Perry on their screens for the first time in seven seasons. However, they can certainly plan on waterworks from Carrie Underwood. The “Blown Away” songstress is joining Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie on the judging panel, bringing her career full circle. As Underwood, now 41, arguably owes much of her success to Idol, this job understandably feels personal for the season 4 champion. And while Bryan and Richie will certainly provide support, they couldn’t resist jokingly calling out their newest colleague during a recent interview.

Carrie Underwood Takes “People’s Hopes and Dreams” Seriously

Ahead of Sunday’s (March 9) season 23 premiere of American Idol, judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the ABC show’s latest iteration.

Naturally, the conversation quickly turned to Underwood’s debut. “I will now rat on her,” said Richie, 75. “What was the hardest moment for this beautiful lady?”

He continued, “The first contestant? ‘Yes. Go through.’ Second contestant. ‘Yes. Go through.’ Third contestant…Ohhh. And Luke and I would laugh and were like, we go, ‘Well, she’s got to say no.’ She said, ‘Well, she’s so cute. She’s so adorable.’ The answer is no, got it?”

Underwood admitted that she cared a lot. “And it’s people’s hopes and dreams,” she said. “I’m trying to evaluate. Is there more in there? Do I think there is more in there?”

Bryan, 48, cut in. “There was not any more in that one particular,” said the “Love You, Miss You, Mean It” crooner. “It was firm. It was no.”

Carrie Comes Home on ‘American Idol’

American Idol’s newest judge takes the hopes and dreams of contestants very seriously, as they were once her own hopes and dreams.

Carrie Underwood was just 21 years old when her mom drove her from their small Oklahoma town to her Idol audition in St. Louis. Impressing judges Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson with her rendition of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” she would end up winning the entire season over country-rocker Bo Bice.

“I know what they’re going through, and I know what it’s like to be standing up there thinking, like, ‘What song am I supposed to be singing? I don’t know,’” said the eight-time Grammy winner. “And having judges say, ‘That just wasn’t the right song for you.’ And you’re like, ‘I don’t know what that means!’”