American Idol judge Katy Perry has decided to sign former contestant Michael J. Woodard to her record label. Woodard competed in season 16 of the long-running singing competition series, which was the first year that Perry was a judge on American Idol. He auditioned for Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie with Ed Sheeran’s “Make It Rain.” Throughout the course of his journey on Idol, the singer performed such songs as Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” the Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers,” Sia’s “Titanium” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Earlier in the season, his rendition of “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret during Hollywood Week prompted Perry to throw her chair. During the Mother’s Day dedications theme at the Top 5, Woodard took on Yolanda Adams’ “Still I Rise,” which brought Perry to tears. Unfortunately, that was the same night he was eliminated. He went on to voice the lead character in the Netflix film Arlo the Alligator Boy, which was released in April.

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Back in 2012, Perry announced she was in the process of launching her own record label, Metamorphosis, which officially launched in 2014 as a subset of Capitol Music Group when she signed Ferras. The singer-songwriter actually has a couple connections to American Idol; his song “Hollywood’s Not America” was the exit song back in season 7, and he co-wrote “Aftermath” for season 8 alum Adam Lambert’s debut album. After changing the label’s name to Unsub Records, Perry signed Cyn in 2017; she has had songs featured in Promising Young Woman, Smallfoot, Birds of Prey and To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. Now the Idol judge has added a third name to the roster.

Based on her reactions to his Idol performances, Perry clearly loves Woodard’s talent, so much so that she has signed him to her record label. Perry made the big announcement on Twitter, saying she “melted over his voice” on American Idol and is “so honored” to be able to “nurture [and] mentor his artist journey.” Woodard also took to social media to share the good news, adding that he’s “grateful” and thankful to Perry for believing in him.

Woodard’s debut single “Why You Texting Me?” is set to be released on May 21. Maybe Perry will try to squeeze in a plug for the single when she appears on the American Idol finale two days later. Whether she’s able to or not, it’s obviously way to early to know how successful Woodard will be on Perry’s label, especially since he is only her third artist. Years before joining Unsub, Ferras had varying degrees of success with “Hollywood’s Not America” and the album Aliens & Rainbows. The song made it to #29 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 and #16 on Billboard’s Adult Top 40. The album itself debuted at #97 on the Billboard 200 chart, which is the same position he reached with his EP after signing with Unsub. And Cyn, as mentioned above, has found success with getting her music featured in various films. Neither has become a household name since joining Perry’s label, but they seem to be doing well enough with the paths they’re currently on.

Even if Woodard’s own music doesn’t take off, at least he seems to have carved out a voice acting career for himself. Aside from the recently released Netflix film, he will also star in a spin-off series, I Heart Arlo. Depending on how long that series ends up running, he’ll have consistent work for a while. And maybe he can try to follow in Cyn’s footsteps by getting his Unsub music featured in movies. Time will tell if his fans from American Idol are ready to support his new venture.

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American Idol airs Sundays at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ABC.

Sources: Katy Perry/Twitter, Michael J. Woodard/Twitter

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Jeff Dodge
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Jeff Dodge is a Reality TV News Editor for Screen Rant. A graduate of Western Washington University, he has been an editor and writer for BuddyTV, The BizzNiz, OMGWire and Best Recap Ever. His love of reality competition shows began when Survivor and American Idol debuted in the early 2000s. You can follow Jeff on Twitter @TheJeffDodge.

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