Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol might not have been able to land Kelly Clarkson as a judge.

But they landed Carrie Underwood, their other most successful alumni, as a mentor.

Carrie coaches the Top 5 on how to sing her songs during pre-taped clips shown during Sunday night’s episode.

She also took the stage to perform twice, once with the Idol Top 5 on a group performance of “See You Again,” then later in the show to perform her new single, “Cry Pretty.”

By the way, a couple of hours after the show, “Cry Pretty” was sitting at number four on the iTunes country chart and number 17 on the site’s overall singles chart.

“So good to be back! Feels like coming home!” Carrie messaged via Twitter.

The Top 5 included Gabby Barrett, Maddie Poppe, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Cade Foehner and Michael J. Woodard. Cade and Michael were eliminated at the end of Sunday’s show.

Here are photos of her return.

Carrie Underwood performs with the American Idol Top 5, Cade Foehner, Maddie Poppe, Gabby Barrett, Caled Lee Hutchinson and Michael J. Woodard. (ABC Photo)

Carrie Underwood performs “See You Again” on American Idol. (ABC Photo)

Carrie Underwood performs “See You Again” on American Idol. (ABC Photo)

Carrie Underwood performs “Cry Pretty” on American Idol (ABC Photo)

Carrie Underwood performs “Cry Pretty” on American Idol (ABC Photo)

Carrie Underwood performs “Cry Pretty” on American Idol (ABC Photo)