‘American Idol’ Judge Luke Bryan Gives Contestant the Shoes off His Feet After Moving Performance

When American Idol judge Luke Bryan saw the holes in contestant Colby Swift’s cowboy boots, he knew he had to do something for the talented young man.

After first meeting the Midfield, Texas resident at the Louisville, Kentucky auditions, the 19-year-old had his first chance to perform in front of a real audience during Sunday’s Hollywood Week episode.

“I never sang in front of a lot of people before,” he admitted to the cameras before taking to the stage. “I ain’t never taken a day of voice lessons before in my life. I can’t sing like anybody else. I’m me — I’m Colby Swift — I ain’t trying to be like anybody else.”

For his first time on stage, Swift’s powerful rendition of Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” evoked a powerful reaction from the judges and other contestants, who gave the stunned singer a standing ovation.

“That was crazy,” he said, bursting into tears backstage. “I never thought I’d get a standing ovation man — to have Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie stand up for me — it’s a blessing, man.”

“I never thought I’d do that,” he continued.

In addition to his killer vocals, judge Luke Bryan noticed one thing about the young man — the boots he had been wearing during both performances were worn right through to the earth in a massive hole.

“Both pairs of his boots have holes in the bottom of ’em,” Bryan whispered to Richie after the performance.

“Yeah, well, we can get him a pair of boots,” Richie responded.

As the judges pulled out the contestants who would be moving forward to the next round, Bryan asked Swift to show off his holey shoes to the camera, before asking him what size shoe he wears.

Swift explained that he wears “whatever fits,” at which point Bryan took off his own boots and handed them to the singer, telling him, “Well, I’m a 12D, and I’ll solve that little problem.”

“So Colby, those boots are made for walking to the next round,” he told the stunned Swift.

“I got Luke Bryan’s boots!” he yelled for the cameras, doing a little moonwalk to make the judges laugh before leaving the stage.

That doesn’t mean that Bryan’s fellow judges were thrilled to have a shoeless country star sitting so close to them, especially when he decided to put his stinky feet in Perry’s face, wafting them at her.

“Get them outta here!” she told him.

American Idol airs Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: YouTube/American Idol