Country music superstar Carrie Underwood can relate to the struggle of juggling a career in entertainment and faith.

Though it seems like an artist wouldn’t face any judgement for speaking about their belief in God, some people in the world prefer to keep entertainment and faith separate. When high-profile individuals like Underwood speak openly about their relationship with Jesus, it can cause those who don’t necessarily agree or believe to turn sour.

But lately, we’ve seen more and more celebrities, musicians, and athletes not being ashamed to talk about their faith.

If you are in need of examples, I’ll happily point you to Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud, or Hollywood actor Chris Pratt. And Carrie Underwood has always been a person that’s never shied away from spreading the word of God… though she hasn’t avoided criticism because of doing so.

That’s why the “Jesus Take The Wheel” singer became so emotional as she fulfilled her judge role on American Idol. During the most recent episode of long-running singing competition series, contestants Breanna Nix and Rylie O’Neill decided to perform a duet of Brandon Lake’s worship song “Gratitude.” The contemporary worship track was released by the Christian singer in 2022, and it quickly became a favorite among worship music listeners.

That was made evident by the song peaking at the number one spot on the US Hot Christian Songs shortly after it was released. It also earned Brandon Lake “Song of the Year” and “Worship Recorded Song of the Year” nominations. And the American Idol contestants certainly did the song justice, and it made for a very emotional moment.

Carrie Underwood was brought to tears during Nix and O’Neill’s performance, and Jelly Roll (who is hanging around at American Idol a lot this season) even FaceTimed Brandon Lake during the performance. The worship artist was blown away by the duet, calling it the “most gorgeous version of ‘Gratitude’” he had ever heard. That’s high praise coming from the guy who penned the song.

After they finished their performance, Carrie fought through her emotions to compliment and commend their rendition, and point out that what they did was not easy:

“Ladies, I want to tell you… I know how difficult it is to come into the entertainment industry and bring your faith with you. It is a brave thing to do, because there are a lot of outside forces that are going to tell you not to do that. I want to tell you that I’m proud of you guys.”

It all made for a really beautiful moment. The only problem? Only one of the contestants was able to move on to the next stage of the competition, and Breanna Nix was given the final spot over her duet partner Rylie O’Neill. To be honest, it felt like a little bit of viewer whiplash. One minute the two are singing a beautiful, faith-based song, and the next, one of them was getting sent home.

I guess that’s what American Idol is all about?

All that being said, it was really cool to see faith take center stage during American Idol, and Carrie Underwood making sure to give the two singer praise for their brave song choice. And you can view all of that in the video linked below: