Carrie Underwood Admits Simon Cowell Was Right About Her ‘Robotic’ Performance

Carrie Underwood‘s flawless performances during season 4 of “American Idol” resulted in her winning the competition. The “Idol” judge took a look back at her top 5 performance on the show — and she agreed with judge Simon Cowell’s critique.

Carrie Underwood Agrees Her Top 5 ‘American Idol’ Performance Was ‘Robotic’

In a May 7 “Idol to Icon” video, Underwood revisited her top 5 performance during season 4 of American Idol. The singer performed “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts.

After getting high praise from judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, the third judge, Simon Cowell, was slightly critical. “Very good, other than the fact that the performance was a little robotic,” Cowell told Underwood.

He added, “You sang it beautifully.”

It wasn’t the harshest note Cowell ever gave, as he was well-known for delivering some pretty rude critiques to “Idol” hopefuls. In fact, Underwood said she agreed with his comment.

“I will say, he wasn’t wrong,” she said with a laugh. “It was top 5. It was like, ‘Okay, you know, I don’t know if it’s the time to like go out on a limb and do anything crazy.’ So picking something that you’re comfortable with, and then trying to, like, work with the staging.”

Underwood pointed out that working the stage wasn’t her strong suit. “But then also, I consider myself a vocalist. I want to sing things well, and if I ever think too much about what I’m doing on stage, I feel like my vocals suffer,” she explained.

The country star added, “So, he was not wrong in his assessment. It was kind of a half compliment, half not. But he was correct … I think in the moment, processing Simon’s critique of my performance, we had heard him say much harsher things to others and to me, as well. So, it was kind of like, ‘could’ve been worse.'”

Carrie Underwood Got a Special Gift From Paula Abdul

Underwood also spotted that one of her accessories during the performance was a ring she got from one of the judges.

“I just realized the ring on my finger, Paula gave me,” Underwood said. “She came by and gave all of us jewelry one time and I still have that ring.”

She added, “It’s diamonds. It’s so pretty.”

Underwood also shared how she was feeling about her chances of winning the competition.

“I think I was a little worried after that performance, after that night in general, that I’d be going home,” she explained. “I think it was like, top 3 to be honest, that I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I might actually win this thing.'”

Underwood added, “I think by top 5, I was still very cautiously optimistic.”