Heavy/ABC
The “American Idol” finalists took the stage on Monday for the first live show of Season 21. With the Top 20 being trimmed down to the Top 12, the stakes were high for everyone under the spotlights.
This happened to include an unexpected visitor as a fly wound up finding itself in quite a few moments throughout the episode. It reached a point where the judges couldn’t even avoid talking about it as Katy Perry was the first one to notice the fly ahead of the show’s first live episode.
The Fly First Appeared in Kaeyra’s Performance
With each contestant seeing themselves land in either the “safe zone” or the “danger zone,” there were plenty of nerves seen onstage. A little more than halfway into the episode, Kaeyra learned that she would have to sing to earn one of the two judge’s saves. What happened next set the Internet on fire.
I actually love how @kaeyra didn’t let that fly affect her performance. I applaud her for staying focused. 👏🏻 #AmericanIdol
— Miranda 🩵 (@BarrymoresBabe) April 25, 2023
With Kaeyra taking the stage to Gladys Knight & The Pips’ “If I Were Your Woman,” she became the first person to catch the attention of the fly. Ryan Seacrest quickly brought up the annoyance, “You were focused because I think a fly landed on your face.”
Katy Perry said she saw the fly, too, and applauded Kaeyra for not being fazed.
“She Mohammad Ali’d that… and kept singing,” Perry remarked. “She was so focused.”
The Fly Returns for Iam Tongi’s Song
Ian Tongi didn’t waste any time getting acquainted to the pesky visitor as he began his performance with the fly on his forehead. He eventually felt it and swatted it away mid-song, even giving a laugh as he kept on playing.
The real star of American Idol…
The fly…. pic.twitter.com/K9nBYPaFcU— J Tocci (@tocci_j) April 25, 2023
After he finished his take on “Stuck On You” by Lionel Richie with a standing ovation and even a hug from the man himself, Seacrest brought out a broom and swayed it around the air to shoo the fly away, “No more distracting us from the show.”
Katy Perry Reveals the Fly Could Have Been Stopped
Cutting off Seacrest onstage in his attempt to get the fly away, Perry revealed that she spotted this intruder before the show.
The #AmericanIdol fly drama. pic.twitter.com/e6Cma7iCeZ
— Luke Bryan (@lukebryan) April 25, 2023
“That dang American Idol fly,” she began. “Literally before this show I didn’t want to kill so I had Luke [Bryan] try and he didn’t flick it hard enough.”
Ultimately, the fly didn’t do any harm to the performers as the ones who were impacted all kept going on with their song as they had planned. What did happen, though, was a viral moment for the show.
Twitter Loves the American Idol Fly
Social media was quick to filled up with photos of the fly. One user joked in a tweet, “That fly gonna get a commercial next. Or be the 13th contestant.”
Things not on my bingo 2023 card:
Ryan Seacrest whipping around a broom on stage trying to kill a fly #AmericanIdol— whit (@whit___ney) April 25, 2023
Another Twitter user commented how the fly has the best seat in the house, “The fly has a front row seat to every performance!”
The Top 12 will kick off next Sunday with the second live performance of “American Idol” as all eyes will be awaiting to see if another fly appears onscreen.