Carrie Underwood is officially back on American Idol 20 years after she won the show. Of course, now — as Season 23 airs on the 2025 TV schedule — she’s on the other side of things, judging up-and-comers alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. If the March 30 episode is any indication, she’s doing a pretty good job, as she may have found the next Taylor Swift. Underwood compared one auditioner to the Eras Tour artist, and the similarities are kind of unbelievable.
On the final day of auditions, 18-year-old Zaylie Windsor stood before the judges to sing an original song she called “The Used” while strumming her own guitar. The veteran judges were split, with Lionel Richie voting yes and Luke Bryan saying the teen wasn’t quite ready. That left Carrie Underwood as the tie-breaker, and she said:
You showed us a lot in your voice. You can go from being small and focused to, like, soaring. I’m impressed at the song, as well. I feel like you’ve got a lot of artistry in there.
Carrie Underwood seemed to be struggling to make her decision, or maybe she was just choosing her words carefully. American Idol has evolved a lot over two decades, and the country music star said coming into this gig that her judging philosophy was to be constructive and not just critical.
In the end, Zaylie Williams had an undeniable vibe that Carrie Underwood just couldn’t ignore. She told the singer:
My thing is, there’s a Taylor Swift-esque quality that she has. She doesn’t have this giant vibrato, belty voice, but there’s something in there. If she did that at 14, she must have a lot of other things in her arsenal that she could bring to the table. … I feel like there’s something about her.
Yes, I couldn’t agree more that there is something about this artist. Zaylie Williams has such strong Taylor Swift vibes that she may as well have walked out and announced it was time for her acoustic set before breaking into some surprise songs.
Not only does the artist have the look — blonde hair with bangs — but she writes her own music, penning her audition song “The Used” when she was just 14. As previously mentioned, she also plays guitar, as does Taylor Swift, and the American Idol contestant showed some of that Swiftie hustle by immediately volunteering to play something different when Luke Bryan questioned the maturity of her songwriting.
As if that all wasn’t enough, Zaylie Williams had one other quality that people often associate with The Tortured Poets Department’s chairman — her subject matter. Of “The Used,” the 18-year-old said:
It’s a breakup song. Not only the breakup part, but the process after, trying to kind of figure out who you are without that person.
I mean, tell me you’re a Swiftie without telling me you’re a Swiftie. You can see the whole audition for yourself below:
Carrie Underwood went with her instincts and sent Zaylie Williams through to Hollywood, so we’ll have to see if she can thrive in American Idol’s competitive environment. We won’t have to wait long, either, as Hollywood Week starts immediately.
Tune in as American Idol adds Monday nights to its schedule, kicking off at 8 p.m. ET March 31 on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription. Friendship bracelets are optional.
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