‘American Idol’: Jewel Disagrees With Katy Perry After Singing Duet With Contestant in Top 24 Round

Monday night’s episode of American Idol featured the remaining 12 members of the season’s Top 24 performing with several celebrity guests, including Jewel, who took the stage with contestant Hunter Metts. Metts started his performance with a cover of Sia’s “Chandelier” before being joined by Jewel to sing her hit “Who Will Save Your Soul.”

After the performance, Metts received feedback from the judges, including Katy Perry, who told Metts that she “could see a little fear in your eyes.” Watching from backstage, Jewel exclaimed, “What! No! I really thought he gave a lot more.” Perry continued, “I think you’ve seen all these incredible, talented contestants come up and you’re judging yourself against them.” She ended on an encouraging note, adding, “You’re Hunter Metts. You have a unique voice that is only your own, so you really can’t, and should not be judging yourself against them.”

Metts received better feedback from Luke Bryan, who told him that “the beauty of you is, if you have a great night, okay night, not a great night, you still have such an undeniable sounding voice that’s your own that you can always count on. Even at one moment, I was just like, ‘God, you give this kid the right song and everybody will know that voice forever.’” Lionel Richie agreed, calling Metts “a stylist.” “I can close my eyes; I know it’s you. On a bad day, you sound just like yourself. So you can’t mess this up, you understand me?” He also told the 22-year-old that he needs him “to feel confident enough to lean forward. You got everything you need to be the superstar you want to be.”

Perry recently told Entertainment Weekly that she credits her time in therapy for the wisdom she’s able to share with contestants. “I think that’s probably because I’ve been to a lot of therapy, so I’m hearing little nuggets from my incredible therapist and probably regurgitating them,” she mused. “Lionel is just kind of a born Buddha, and Luke has a wit that is necessary to balance out all the philosophizing and psychological analysis, so it’s a really great combination.”

Richie shared that his 40 years in the music business have helped with the advice he offers. “It just takes time to develop that kind of knowledge that you know not only they are going to need, but you learn life’s lessons along the way too,” he explained. “When you’re young and dumb and experimental and you don’t know you can kill yourself, that’s when you do some of your greatest work because you don’t know that there’s a cliff somewhere. And as you get a little older, you realize, I gotta be a little calm about this…it’s called longevity.”