Carrie Underwood is one step closer to coming back to her roots.

It’s an exciting time, and one of change, for the “Before He Cheats” singer, who is gearing up to return to American Idol, this time as a judge, nearly 20 years after she won the famed singing competition in 2005.

But before that, she had another important gig to cap off, her Reflection residency in Las Vegas, which she just finished for the time being ahead of the holidays and American Idol.

 

Carrie Underwood returns to American Idol

A true American Idol! Carrie Underwood will return to the hit ABC competition show as a judge, 19 years after she won the series in 2005.

As her latest slate of shows came to an end, Carrie took to Instagram and shared a round of photos recapping the special run, including some of her fabulous outfits.

In the first photo, she is sporting a lavender hued, sparkly fringed mini dress paired with matching heeled cowboy boots, and in another, she is wearing a similarly fringed silver mini dress.

In others, she is also donning a bright pink strapless gown paired with a Western-style black belt, and the photos further show the impressive performance she puts on.

“And that’s a wrap on this run of #Reflection shows in #Vegas! It was super fun!” she wrote in her caption, adding: “Let’s do it one last time in 2025!!!” Carrie returns to the Resorts World in March, for nine last shows concluding on April 12.

 

Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Ryan Seacrest attend the "American Idol" Season 8 Judges Photo Call on October 02, 2024 in New York City.© Getty Images
Carrie with the American Idol crew earlier this month

 

Fans were then quick to take to the comments section under the post and rave over the residency, with one writing: “Take me back to Vegas! Incredible show!” as others followed suit with: “The best Vegas show I’ve ever seen, twice!” and: “It was such a fantastic show!!!” as well as: “THANK YOU for an incredible weekend, Queen!”

Host Ryan Seacrest posted the throwback to celebrate Carrie's return to the show© Instagram
She won the competition in 2005

Come next year when the 23rd season of American Idol returns in the spring, Carrie will be joining fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, as well as host Ryan Seacrest. Shortly after she was confirmed as the new judge, following Katy Perry’s departure, she reflected on what a full circle moment it was.

 

Carrie Underwood performs onstage for "Carrie Underwood REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency" at Resorts World Las Vegas on March 06, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.© Getty Images
The singer launched her Las Vegas residency back in 2021

Speaking on Good Morning America earlier this year, she emphasized: “I mean it feels like home.” The crew started filming the auditions in New York City last month.

 

Carrie Underwood's epic throwback© Instagram
Carrie was part of the fourth season of Idol

She added: “There’s so many people that still work on the show that were there when I was a contestant, and I feel like being on both sides of the coin, I’ll be able to hopefully offer some insight and help.”

Plus, asked what kind of judge she might be, one thing she could say was: “I can’t lie, I just can’t, you can tell. I feel like I’ll be very honest but hopefully inspiring.”