'American Idol' Judges 'Speechless' After Contestant Performs Dan + Shay Cover

The American Idol judges were all blown away when one contestant, 16-year-old Madison VanDenburg, [...]

By Gayle Thompson

The American Idol judges were all blown away when one contestant, 16-year-old Madison VanDenburg, performed a cover of Dan + Shay's recent No. 1 hit, "Speechless," during the episode airing on Sunday night, March 10.

"Do you know what you just did?" Lionel Richie asked, after VanDenburg performed "Speechless" at the piano. "You rendered us speechless, to the point where Katy [Perry] is showing me goose bumps on her arms."

"It's my first goose bumps," Perry interjected. "I really thought that I had lost all feeling, for some reason. I'm so glad that you gave me back a pulse. I thought there was a winner earlier today. There might be a winner now. I think you're as good as Kelly Clarkson. You could be the next Kelly Clarkson. You're a massive star."

Luke Bryan was also in awe of VanDenburg's rendition of the Dan + Shay hit, agreeing with Perry's appraisal.

"Katy said it," Bryan noted. "I'm witnessing the next Kelly Clarkson."

Bryan tweeted a video of the performance to Dan + Shay, who praised VanDenburg's cover of their mega hit.

"WOW. UNBELIEVABLE," the guys wrote, along with two clapping hands emojis. "@maddyvandenburg, you're a star."

VanDenburg is just one of the many contestants the Idol judges have seen this year that prove that the talent for this season is unlike anything American Idol has had in the past.

"I think one of the most important things is that we feel like the talent is really, really next-level stuff," Bryan told ABC News Radio. "And we feel like we have people that walk out, that they're not just walking out and they're just singing, they truly have stories to tell."

"They're true artists," he continued. "And they're so good, they just, even help legitimize our show so much more when we have extremely talented kids on the show."

Bryan was eager to return to the reality TV talent show this year, after making his debut, along with Perry and Richie, in 2018.

"I think last season was kind of everybody's training ground," Bryan conceded. "It was a new network, new judges. The first year, you know, maybe all of America would've been somewhat reluctant to fully jump on board. But I think what I noticed is as the show caught its stride, and we got into live shows, me and Lionel and Katy and even Ryan, we just started really having fun with the show."

American Idol airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo Credit: Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

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