Whew. Talk about a showstopper—though maybe not in the way “American Idol” was expecting. Season 23 of the long-running reality juggernaut kicked off with a bang, a twist, and one deeply unforgettable original song. Enter Sophie Powers: 20 years old, straight outta Toronto, and fully committed to her brand of unapologetic chaos.
Now let’s paint the picture: Carrie Underwood, back in the audition room two decades after “winning” this whole thing, is getting all sentimental. She’s hoping for a season filled with powerhouse voices, future chart-toppers, someone who can dominate radio like she once did. And right then—Sophie Powers walks in with a song called “STFU.”
Yes. You read that correctly. That’s the “actual” title.
Sophie steps up, calls her song a “tearjerker,” and kicks things off with a line about giving her pet lizard to her mom because “animals are better than people.” Okay, quirky. But then it “spirals”—fast. The chorus? A full-speed, unfiltered tirade of “shut the f— up” directed at “everything”: Karens, vegans, babies, groceries, laundry, traffic, dinosaurs. Dinosaurs!
Judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan looked “stunned”. You could practically feel the confusion vibrating off the walls. Richie? “Mortified.” Bryan joked that the song would end up on his wife’s playlist—every night. And Underwood, ever the professional, tried to find a polite landing: “You clearly have a thing going… I just don’t know where you fit here.”
And Sophie? She was cool as ever. “Neither do I, I’m literally Canadian,” she quipped, before heading out with three “No’s” and a whole lotta new fans on YouTube.
Because while she didn’t get a golden ticket, Sophie Powers “definitely” made an impression. The comments online are flooded with folks calling her the most memorable of the night. Some even said they “wanted” her in Hollywood—just to see what chaos she’d unleash next.
Love her or hate her, Sophie didn’t walk into that room to blend in. She came to be “herself”, full volume, no filter, lizard references and all. And in a world of overly polished performances and formulaic covers, she gave us something we didn’t see coming: originality. Loud, weird, bold originality.
And honestly? That might be the most “American Idol” thing of all.
