Carrie Underwood Reflects on Her American Idol Hollywood Week Nerves & Mistakes

Carrie Underwood, who won American Idol Season 4 at just 21 years old, is now back on the show—this time as a judge. While filming her first season in the judge’s seat, she’s revisiting memories from her own winning journey.

Right now, American Idol is deep into Hollywood Week, the intense second round of auditions where hopefuls face immense pressure and mass eliminations.

When discussing her experience at American Idol’s Hollywood Week, Underwood said,

“So nerve-wracking being in Hollywood. For Hollywood Week. Because there’s a lot being thrown at you. You know, you’ve traveled here. You had to go through all the initial kind of auditions and stuff to be able to get here in the first place. And it’s the first time you’re meeting all the other contestants and you’re kind of seeing what they have to offer. It’s very emotional. You know, you’re probably running off of adrenaline and not a lot of sleep. And you’re in a new place. You’re trying to make friends. I mean, just a lot of emotions.”

With the intensified pressure of the competition, many contestants made mistakes this week, and Carrie Underwood is no exception.

Carrie Underwood’s Hollywood Week Slip Up

In the video that Idol just released, Underwood shared what she was thinking and feeling during her first Idol experience. In the first sentence of this video, she said,

“Hollywood week where tensions fly high, and the idol stars emerge, or, as in my case, they totally mess up. Come revisit it with me.”

During her first week, the singer performed on stage with other young hopefuls but forgot her lyrics. The pressure overwhelmed the iconic singer, and while she sounded incredible, she made a mistake.

“I did forget the words, but I feel like in that moment it was more about how you jumped back in.”

The video showed that she was not eliminated but rather advanced. Underwood expressed her relief at this and said she thought she was done for sure.

“I was so thinking I was going to go home.“

Throughout the video, she continues to relive the highs and lows of her week in Hollywood. Watch the video below.