American Idol
Season 20 M-Net (*101) 19:30 Reality
Popstar Katy Perry makes up one third of the judging panel on reality show American Idol alongside musos Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. “We provide the contestants with advice to take on the real world. We also form close bonds with them,” explains Katy, adding that “because we discover the contestants, we’re part of their biography.” And Katy understands what it is to walk in the contestants’ shoes, having gone from amateur gospel choir singer to being a global superstar.
Katy’s full name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson and she grew up in a religious home – her parents were Pentecostal pastors in Santa Barbara, California. “I don’t identify as following any specific religion now, but I do pray. I pray all the time for self-control and humility,” explains the 37-year-old.
She dropped out of school at 15 to follow her musical dreams with her self-titled gospel debut album Katy Hudson… which flopped.
Katy re-branded her image and after seven years of working on new music, she released her breakthrough album titled One Of The Boys in 2008, which features hit songs such as I Kissed A Girl and Hot N Cold. “I’m constantly evolving and I’m always a new and different version of myself every single day, which comes across in my music,” says Katy. She married British comedian Russell Brand in 2010 but divorced in 2011. Katy started dating Orlando Bloom (Legolas in The Lord Of The Rings fantasy movies) in 2016 and the couple welcomed their daughter Daisy Dove in 2020.