"That was awful"— American Idol fans criticize Desmond Roberts' rendition of Worship by Jon Batiste

American Idol's Easter Special for season 23, Songs of Faith, aired on Sunday, April 20, 2025. The episode saw several performances by the participants along with celebrity guests, after which, the Top 20 were announced.

One contestant who took the stage was Desmond Roberts, who sang Jon Batiste's Worship. While the season 23 judges praised Desmond's performance, fans online had differing views and shared negative feedback on X. One person wrote:

"That was awful tonight! Desmond Roberts."

"On a night I didn't need that performance from Desmond. That was so bad, none of my song recognition apps even knew what he was singing. If AI couldn't make sense of it, I can't either," a fan commented.

"Desmond's song could be a key lower," a tweet read.

Fans of American Idol season 23 further criticized Desmond's performance:

"He was out of tune many times. Very unfortunate presentation, it's a shame because it could have been great," a person wrote.

"Yep….. and the judges pretend like they can’t hear him out of tune. And there is a reason Art Garfunkel didn’t sing that song like Filo did….." a fan commented.

"That was a terrible performance. This is why I quit watching this show..dishonest judges. Ya’ll go on making your money. Back to watching something else. Bye," a tweet read.

Fans of American Idol season 23 also said:

"Awful. Just screams. Where is the actual song words or worship," a person wrote.

"That was almost as bad as the one right after it," a fan commented.

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The judges praise Desmond Roberts' rendition of Worship by Jon Batiste during American Idol's Songs of Faith Easter special

During American Idol season 23's Easter Sunday episode, the contestants sang songs inspired by faith. One such contestant was Desmond Roberts, a 26-year-old music teacher from Orange County, California.

Desmond sang Worship by Jon Batiste, which earned him a standing ovation from all three judges during the season 23 episode. Luke Bryan said that he didn't know how he was supposed to judge the participant's performance, noting it was "far beyond" his knowledge.

He praised Desmond for having "so many tools and tricks" up his sleeve and also commented on the "entertainment" value he brought to the stage. Meanwhile, Lionel Richie called the American Idol season 23 contestant's performance "amazing" and also said that he didn't know what "register" the singer sang in.

"But if there's a Z-flat, it was amazing," he said.

Carrie Underwood told Desmond Roberts that his rendition of Worship had "a lot of switching gears" and told him that he sang "the heck out of it."

Out of American Idol season 23's Top 24, four were eliminated while 20 moved on to the next round. Those whose journeys came to an end were Kyana Fanene from San Leandro, California, Grayson Torrence from Providence Forge, Virginia, MKY from Los Angeles, California, and Penny Samar from Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Those who moved on to the next round were Canaan James Hill from Dallas, Drew Ryn from Chino Valley, Arizona, Filo from Dublin, California, Josh King from Charlotte, North Carolina, Thunderstorm Artis from Haleiwa, Hawaii, and Amanda Barise from Manhattan, New York.

These singers were joined by John Foster from Addis, Louisiana, Mattie Pruitt from Eagleville, Tennessee, Olivier Bergeron from Kedgwick, New-Brunswick, Breanna Nix from Denton, Texas, Victor Solomon from Peoria, Illinois, Baylee Littrell from Alpharetta, Georgia, Isaiah Misailegalu from Las Vegas, Nevada, Gabby Samone from Baltimore, Maryland, and Slater Nalley from Atlanta, Georgia.

Zaylie Windsor from Safford, Arizona, Jamal Roberts from Meridian, Mississippi, Che from Essex, England, and Kolbi Jordan from Tulsa, Oklahoma, also secured a spot in the Top 20.

Fans online reacted to Desmond Roberts' performance and were critical of it.

Tune in on Monday, April 21, 2025, to watch the Top 20 perform once again on American Idol season 23.