‘American Idol': Colin Stough Covers Alanis Morissette’s ‘Hand in My Pocket’ [Watch]

Sunday Night’s (May 7) episode of American Idol looked a little different with Alanis Morissette and Ed Sheeran filling in for regular judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

While Perry and Lionel were away attending coronation festivities in the United Kingdom, the contestants were tasked with covering a song out of Morissette’s catalog. Before taking the stage, each contestant was given the opportunity to meet with the “You Learn” singer to plan out their performance and seek advice.

For his song, Colin Stough decided to tackle Morissette’s 1995 release, “Hand in My Pocket.” While he admitted to being nervous in the established singer’s presence, Stough was up for the challenge of delivering the song in a different way.

Without even hearing the final version of his take, Morissette said she had goosebumps and enjoyed the “soulful Southern tone” that Stough was bringing to the track.

Stough brought a Southern rock rendition of “Hand in My Pocket” to the stage a few moments later. While strumming along on his guitar, he delivered more raspy vocals than viewers have become accustomed to and offered up a little more movement, too. The audience was clearly loving the confidence — they were shown clapping along before giving the singer a standing ovation.

When it was time to hear from Morissette, the special guest judge admitted that she “didn’t see that coming,” in the most positive way. She continued to call Stough’s rendition of her song “big bombastic, beautifulness.”

Sheeran added some praise of his own, calling out Stough’s ability to take such an iconic song and put a completely different rock spin on it.

Luke Bryan, never one to be too serious, called Stough cute, before recognizing the journey that the newcomer has been on. He too enjoyed the singer’s ability to put his own “artistic stamp” on the song.

American Idol airs on Sunday and Monday nights at 8PM ET on ABC.