It was fitting that Miranda Lambert was on hand for Sunday night’s (May 4) “Iconic Women”-themed night. As the show’s top 10 competed for a spot in the top 8, Lambert was in the house for a killer performance of one of her breakthrough hits and to offer advice and encouragement to the singers, beginning with country crooner John Foster, who admitted that the singer was his “first crush.”
They clearly got along like old friends, with country gentleman Foster even taking off his cowboy hat in deference to Lambert, who counseled him to work the stage a bit as they did an impromptu duet on Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About.”
Lambert wasn’t done singing, though, as she had her own spotlight moment later in the show when she took the stage to perform her breakthrough 2005 hit single, “Kerosene,” which peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Nov. 15 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The song, which was the third single and title track of Lambert’s debut album, has lost none of its rocking vibe in the ensuing two decades.
“Dusty roads ain’t made for walking/ Spinning tires ain’t made for stoppin’/ I’m giving up on love ’cause love’s given up on me,” Lambert sang over her band’s foot-stomping backing, as, following her own advice, she worked the stage in a rhinestone-studded black jumpsuit while the giant screen behind her featured the tune’s title in flaming letters.
Fellow country stars and Idol judges Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan clapped and bopped their heads to the song’s driving beat and gospel-flecked keyboards. Afterwards, host Ryan Seacrest asked Lambert how her mentoring run on the show has been going and she said, “I love them all so much. I’ve had such a blast getting to be part of this Idol family and getting to know these wonderful artists. It has been a real blessing for me.”
Lambert also plugged her new record label, Big Loud Texas, where she said she’s trying to keep the “outlaw movement going.”
Other top 10 performances on the episode included: Kolbi Jordan (Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”), Josh King (Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”), Breanna Nix (Adele’s “Water Under the Bridge”), Canaan James Hill (Carrie Underwood’s “Love Wins”), Thunderstorm Artis (Adele’s “When We Were Young”), Slater Nalley (Reba McEntire’s “Whoever’s In New England”), Jamal Roberts (Underwood’s “Undo It”), Mattie Pruitt (Lambert’s “The House That Built Me”) and Gabby Samone (Beyoncé’s “I Was Here”).
Idol winner Abi Carter also returned during the episode to sing her new ballad, “Burned.” By show’s end, the top 10 was cut down to the top eight, with Jordan and Hill eliminated. The next episode of Idol, the judge’s song contest, airs on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET, where America will vote for the top six and the judges will use their save to complete the top seven.
Watch Lambert perform “Kerosene” on American Idol below.
