Carrie Underwood is experiencing a full-circle moment in her career right now, as she is set to return to where it all started — American Idol . This time, however, she won’t be on stage trying to win over Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and the perpetually rude Simon Cowell ; she’ll be sitting in one of their spots as the new judge for the upcoming 23rd season . Underwood couldn’t help but reflect on the moment that changed her life two decades ago, posting a throwback photo to honor the 20th anniversary of her American Idol audition, and former judge Jackson had a sweet response.
It was back in Season 4 of American Idol when Carrie Underwood beat out Bo Bice and the rest of the field to launch a music career that has so far seen nine studio albums, 22 No. 1 singles and eight Grammys. Now she seems ready to pay it forward, as she shared on Instagram those 20-year-old pics from her St.
Louis, Missouri, audition: A post shared by Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) A photo posted by on I love this blast from the past so much, and something tells me that sweet, young girl had no idea just how big of a star she was about to become! The judges, though, seemed to know right away that the country singer with a powerful voice had the potential to win the whole thing after they heard her sing "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt. Randy Jackson confirmed as much when he hit the comment section of the above throwback post to say: One of my favorite auditions 👏❤️ What a .