Alongside country crooner Luke Bryan and R&B legend Lionel Richie, pop star Katy Perry has been an enduring presence on ABC's American Idol, joining the show ahead of its 16th season in 2018. However, after seven seasons as a judge, the "Fireworks" singer has recently announced her exit from the long-running singing competition, which makes American Idol season 22 Perry's last.
The performer revealed during a February 12 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!: "I love Idol so much. Its connected me with the heart of America. But I need to feel that pulse of my own beat. I love the show so much, but I want to go and see the world and maybe bring new music."
With Katy Perry's final season premiering on Sunday, February 18 at 8pm ET on ABC—as is tradition, the two-hour debut will be an auditions episode, with try-outs taking place in Los Angeles, Nashville and the judges' hometowns—let's take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some of the bubbly star's most memorable moments from American Idol's famous auditions process. There will be laughs, there will be tears and there will be weird, froglike hidden talents!
The best Katy Perry American Idol audition moments
Katy crushes on a handsome contestant
The pop singer has no doubt had her fair share of admirers over the years, but Katy Perry ended up being the one with the crush when singer Trevor Holmes auditioned the second episode of season 16. The construction worker had the judge positively swooning the second he walked into the audition room, with Perry proclaiming that he was a "dreamboat" and "so hot" thirty seconds into his try-out. She had everyone, including fellow judges Luke and Lionel, cracking up with her cartoonish flirting, as she blushed and hid behind her notes while Trevor sang, but alas, a love connection wasn't meant to be between them: Trevor had a girlfriend.
Katy gives a contestant his first kiss
It seems like amorous feelings were definitely in the air during season 16 episode two because that very same episode, Perry ended up sweetly smooching one of the auditioners. No, not Trevor, but 19-year-old Benjamin Glaze. After Luke Bryan jokingly asked if he had "kissed a girl and like it?" (a nod, of course, to Perry's famous hit song), Benjamin revealed that he had never been in a relationship nor smooched a girl. Katy changed that, calling the young man over to the judges' table so he could kiss her on the cheek. When he went in for another peck, she turned her head to surprise him with a quick lip-to-lip moment, to the cheers of everyone in the room. Benjamin nearly dropped to the ground in joy and given that his first kiss was with a Grammy-winning mega-star, who could blame him?
Katy shows off her strange 'frog neck' party trick
The American Idol auditions process is a lengthy one and after hours of high-stakes auditions with people putting their talents and dreams on the line, both the judges and the contestants no doubt need a little something to break the tension. Katy Perry grossing everyone out with her "crazy talent" during season 16 was just the thing: “I can look like a frog,” she announced. “It’s disgusting. Nobody’s gonna want to make out with me, or any of that… But who cares?" She then showed off how she could inflate and deflate her throat like a frog, much to the hilarious horror of Luke and Lionel, the latter of whom shrieked after Perry asked him to touch her neck.
Katy does a runway-off with a male model
The "Roar" songstress is known for her sometimes out-there fashions (remember that hamburger dress she wore to the Met Gala?) but she got some odd-ball sartorial competition when one auditioner, male model Mario Adrion, showed up wearing nothing but a Speedo swimsuit and knee-high socks in season 19. When Mario challenged the fashionista to a "catwalk battle," Perry gamely jumped up from the judges' panel, threw off her overcoat and strutted her stuff to the tune of Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy."
Katy breaks down after emotional audition
Known as the "Queen of Camp," Katy Perry has been a reliable source of comic relief during her seven seasons on the singing competition program, but she's also been known to be vulnerable and open with her emotions during the auditions process. During the show's 21st season, the singer broke down into tears after hearing the story of 21-year-old auditioner Trey Louis, who performed a moving rendition of Whiskey Myers’ "Stone." However, it was Trey's testimony of surviving the horrific 2018 Santa Fe school shooting that left Katy sobbing: “I hope that you remind people that we have to change. Because, you know, I’m scared, too.” All three judges hugged Trey after moving him on to the next round of the competition.
You can watch more of Katy Perry's audition moments as American Idol season 22 kicks off tonight on ABC. In order to watch the season 22 premiere live, you need to have a TV package that includes ABC. That can be either a traditional pay-TV setup, a TV antenna or a live TV streaming service like Fubo, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV. If you're OK waiting a day and watching the show on-demand, all episodes will be released on Hulu the Monday after they air.
