American Idol contestant faints as judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie trash performance

American Idol contestant Funke Lagoke fainted on stage after listening to Katy Perry and Lionel Richie trash her duet performance with fellow contestant Ronda Felton.

The scary incident occurred on 22 March 2021 and had everyone —from judges to viewers— worried about Lagoke’s health. Just before they had come on stage to perform, Billboard reported that Lagoke had been seen giving her duet partner Felton encouraging pep talks.

“Lagoke [sympathised] with the struggles of her singing partner, Ronda Felton, describing her own childhood full of relentless bullying and teasing,” the Billboard article read.

The duo had a not-so-good rehearsal and Felton needed the encouragement to get up on stage. However, the two of them eventually mustered themselves up and served a ballad rendition of The Exciters’ 1962 hit “Tell Him.”

“Melanated Queens”, the name Lagoke and Felton chose to go by for their duet performance, must have believed they gave their all to the song but they became concerned after Katy Perry did not buy into it.

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The singer instead said that they had reached the end of their journey and while Luke Bryan, a second judge seemed to have been taken with Lagoke’s performance, Lionel Richie proved to be the tiebreaker.

He called the performance a train wreck and with their fate sealed, Funke Lagoke fell face first on the stage not waiting to hear Richie’s explanation. Loud gasps erupted before Bryan and the “Hello” crooner rushed to help the fallen contestant as the medical team also arrived.

See the full video of when the American Idol contestant faints here:

Lagoke was later stabilised and rushed to the hospital and the country singer Bryan announced that she had busted her chin during the fall. Lionel Richie also told Felton, who was bawling at the time, that they will both go through to the next round.

The show told viewers that Funke Lagoke was treated for dehydration and later released from the hospital, she is expected back in a week’s time.