Katy Perry Gets Emotional and Cries During Final American Idol Season Finale

The singer joined the series as a judge alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie back in 2018

Katy Perry is feeling emotional.

The singer, 39, became visibly upset and cried during the season finale of American Idol on Sunday, May 19, after Abi Carter secured her win.

Perry, whose Idol career has now come to an end, sobbed as she hugged fellow judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie while Carter performed a rendition of Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”

Carter was up against Will Moseley and Jack Blocker, who placed second and third, respectively.

Perry joined Idol as a judge alongside Bryan, 47, and Richie, 74, back in 2018 for the revival of the show on ABC following its original 15-season run on Fox.

She announced her exit from the series after seven seasons on Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this year. At the time, she teased that she has more projects, including new music, to come later in 2024.

“I think this probably will be my last show, my last season for Idol,” Perry confirmed. “I mean I love Idol so much.”

“It’s connected me with the heart of America, but I feel like I need to go out and feel that pulse to my own beat, you what I’m saying Jimmy?” she added, winking at host Jimmy Kimmel.

In an interview with Taste of Country Nights, Bryan said that Perry’s exit wasn’t a total surprise. “I had heard whispers that she was thinking about it — it wasn’t, like, a huge shock,” the country crooner said.

“It’s been a good run with Katy, and she and I have developed a great friendship and to work alongside her. I mean, heck, I was there before her daughter was born, and now her daughter is [3 years] old,” Bryan added of Perry and her fiancé Orlando Bloom’s daughter Daisy Dove, whom they welcomed in August 2020.