American Idol: Katy Perry calls herself ‘tough mom’ after confronting Liahona Olayan over effort

Katy Perry called herself a ‘tough mom’ as she judged two teenage contestants on Monday’s second Hollywood episode of American Idol.

During the duet rounds, the 36-year-old singer advised Laila Mach, 15, and Liahona Olayan, 17, on their cover of Rihanna’s Stay.

It was ‘sludgy,’ Katy told them during rehearsals, noting that the girls seemed like they were dragging their heels just to be there.

She soon zeroed in on Liahona, 17, who had been struggling since her brother Ammon Olayan, 18, got booted during the first part of Hollywood week during the genre challenge.

Slumping down on the floor as the girls rehearsed, Katy tucked her fuzzy slippers under her and gave Liahona a talking-to.

‘You just feel like you’re checking a box,’ Katy observed. ‘What are you doing? This is not just a box. This is your dreams. This is it, it’s a shot. And it’s real for both of you.’

‘There’s no fluke here,’ she went on. ‘You’ve got the ball. It’s in your court. So do it for your brother.’

Katy, who’d been a blonde during rehearsals, donned a black Betty Page wig and long black gloves on performance day.

She scowled watching Liahona perform, aware that the girl was ‘sabotaging’ herself because she missed her family.

‘Her eyes are sealed shut from crying ’cause her brother’s not here,’ Katy told fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.

She reminded Liahona that that the judges had once thought her Top 10 material.

‘Do you want to be here?’ Katy asked the teen. ‘There’s other people behind me who want it more and are gonna fight tooth and nail to get it. And you’re wasting everybody’s time.’

She paused dramatically, adding, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’

Liahona couldn’t believe her ears as she realized that she was going through along with Laila.

‘I’m a tough mom, but I love every child,’ said Katy, who has six-month-old daughter Daisy with fiance Orlando Bloom, 44.

In a first for the Hollywood Duets, the judges not only chose each singer’s partner, but advised contestants during rehearsals.

Singers had just 24 hours to prepare, and were evaluated both as a duet and individually. 

There was no mistaking how close Funke Lagoke and Ronda Felton, 19, became when they were chosen to duet together on the show.

As they rehearsed Barbra Streisand and Céline Dion’s Tell Him, Funke helped Ronda overcome her lifelong feelings of insecurity, which were holding her back.

On performance day, Luke felt Funke carried Ronda, while Katy admired Ronda’s heart.

‘Well, we have had a clear and present disagreement,’ Lionel started saying to the pair, as Funke looked down and swayed.

Seconds later, she fainted dead away, landing face-forward onstage with a sickening thud.

Katy gasped and clutched her face as the crew ran to Funke’s side.

‘Are you okay?’ Luke asked as Funke was turned over. ‘Don’t grab her. She busted her chin y’all.’

‘Funke? Can you hear me? Funke? Funke?’ a crew member asked, as a paper towel was placed on Funke’s chin. ‘Squeeze my hand.’

Sirens were heard, and medics rolled in with a stretcher for Funke, who said weakly, ‘Glue please. I don’t want no stitches.’

She was lifted onto the stretcher and rolled out as Ronda wept in the crowd.

With Funke rolled away, Lionel walked up to Ronda, who was now sitting in the bucket seats.

‘I was about to deliver some news, so I thought I should deliver it to you,’ Lionel told her. ‘What I was about to say is both of you deserve to go through.’

Funke did not break any bones, but she did need stitches, the judges told Ronda.

A message on the screen said that Funke was treated for dehydration and released, and would be performing in next week’s ‘Showstopper’ round.

Overcome, Katy wept to hear Willie Spence, 21, and Kya Monée perform Rihanna’s Stay afterward, as Lionel promised, ‘You both are going through with flying colors.’

Many of the episode’s pairings worked well and new friendships quickly blossomed.

That was the case for Claudia Conway, 16, the daughter of former Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway, who was the season’s most famous contestant.

Claudia was paired with laid-back singer Hannah Everhart, 17, who initially proclaimed herself ‘scared’ to be paired with the TikTok-famous star.

She disappeared on Claudia, who had to go searching for her throughout the rehearsal space.

‘When I first met Claudia, I was like, ”Oh crap”,’ Hannah said to the cameras. ‘And then I was like, ”Okay, I’m gonna go eat. I just need to recollect my brain right now”.’

She admitted that she’d hoped to be paired with someone older, as she was an ‘old soul.’

Katy cautioned the girls not to overshadow one another, and Claudia admitted that she was ‘nervous about being sent home, and not living up to my potential.’

The pair’s duet on Harry Styles’ Sign Of The Times was starkly beautiful, but the judges felt Hannah carried the lead and Claudia dragged her down.

‘In the great words of Elvis, ”It’s now or never”,’ Lionel said sotto voce, as they deliberated.

Katy told the duo they’d shown ‘great growth’ but hadn’t carved out space for themselves.

‘We’re at a crossroads right now, and this is the hardest part of our job,’ she told them.

Katy sent Hannah through, telling her not to let her small town down.

‘Claudia, you’re just coming into your life,’ she then told Hannah’s partner. ‘You’re taking control of your life. I applaud you for that. Claudia, this is going to be the end of the American Idol journey. For right now. I hope you learned a lot, and I hope you come see us again.’

Claudia was gracious in defeat, saying she was happy for Hannah.

‘It has been wonderful working with you,’ Hannah said, crying. ‘You’re a wonderful person, and I wish you the best of luck on whatever route you take, ’cause you’re already in a great spot.’

‘I’m gonna be cheering for you,’ Claudia promised. ‘You could win this thing. You’re still gonna Fed-Ex me one of your chickens, right?’

‘Yeah,’ Hannah replied. ‘You want dead or alive?’

‘Surprise me,’ Claudia cracked.

Hannah was then shown in her family’s chicken coop in Canton, Mississippi, holding out a bird.

‘Claudia, will this one work?’ she asked, and turned to the chicken. ‘You ready to go to New Jersey, Helen?’

One of the funnier moments in the show came when three successive pairs sang Harry Styles’ Watermelon Sugar—a song that didn’t really highlight their vocals.

At first the only singers to make it through doing the song were Beane, 23, and Graham DeFranco, 27, whose partners were booted off.

‘We’ve officially banned everyone from singing Watermelon Sugar,’ Katy announced. ‘It’s an official, blanket ban.’

That didn’t stop Anthony Guzman, 27, and Adriel Carrion from trying to tackle the song, too.

‘Not Watermelon Sugar,’ Katy begged. ‘I can’t take another Watermelon Sugar! Oh f***!’

To everyone’s surprise, the duo roused the judges to stand, which led Lionel to say, ‘My people! You have brought new faith and trust to Watermelon High.’

‘Sugar,’ Katy corrected him, as both men went through.

Some duos struggled to figure out how to come together, while others forgot their words. 

Althea Grace, 21, missed her two-year-old daughter Lennon who had a liver transplant in 2020— worrying more when the child’s feeding tube came out and she had to go to the ER.

Althea channeled the anger she felt about it all into an incredible cover of Lesley Gore’s You Don’t Own Me, going through with her partner Camille Lamb, 22.

Katy said that the two of them held each other up, that they were better together.

‘That’s what queens do,’ she offered, wondering what she could do with Taylor Swift.

Madison Watkins, 25, and Deshawn Goncalves were self-proclaimed ‘perfect partners’ on Rihanna’s Stay, with Lionel calling their chemistry ‘slam-dunk’ as they moved through.

Alex Miller, 17, and EmiSunshine, 16, were Luke’s ‘country little bumpkins’ on a spirited rendition of Johnny Cash’s Walk The Line, and they went through, too.

Murphy and Lizzy O’Very, 20, walked onstage barefoot and wowed the judges with Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, scoring a standing ovation.

‘It’s so weird, it’s wonderful,’ Katy marveled, as Luke said of Murphy, ‘Don’t let me start falling in love with that kid.’

Wyatt Pike, 19, lifted his nervous partner Cassandra Coleman, 24, to new heights on their alt-country cover of Alex Clare’s Too Close, which got them both through.

Ben Dodson and Henry Thompson, 18, made it look easy on Shawn Mendes’ Mercy, which had Luke saying, ‘I can’t shoot any holes in what you guys just did.’

Hunter Metts, 22, and Ava August, 15, had Luke calling them both ‘stars’ with their incendiary take on Robyn’s Dancing on My Own.

Chayce Beckham, 24, and Christina Daugherty, 28, gave a raspy, broken performance of Noah Cyrus’ July that showed new levels to Chayce yet fatally obscured Christina’s talent.

Jazzy Rose and Re’h, 27, passed with a jazzy rendition of Maren Morris’ Common, while Zach D’Onofrio and Sloane Simon left after singing Hall & Oates’ You Make My Dreams (Come True).

Alyssa Wray, 18, and Grace Kinstler, 20, had everyone in the studio rocking with their soulful rendition of Bruno Mars’ Grenade, which got a standing ovation.

‘Our job is done here,’ Katy said. ‘Show’s over. Everybody go home.’

She pulled off her black wig and gloves, as Lionel said, ‘You blew Katy’s wig off!’

‘I’m putting everyone to bed,’ Katy said, walking offstage as Luke donned the wig.

American Idol will return next week on ABC.