“American Idol” contestant auditions with 'I Kissed a Girl' — but did Katy Perry like it?

After Madaí ChaKell performed the 2008 hit, Perry asked her to sing "Happy Birthday."

Katy Perry was a little hot and cold when it came to an American Idol hopeful using one of her signature songs to audition.

During Sunday's episode of Idol, contestant Madaí ChaKell entered the audition room ready to wow the judges with her host of vocal stylings, including her ability to mimic Perry, as well as adopt Southern and British accents. And when she announced her intention to sing Perry's breakout hit, "I Kissed a Girl," things got interesting.

"You're gonna get in my bag?" Perry quipped, before adding, "I'm just going to pull my bag out and wrap it around my, my — I better lock it up too."

When ChaKell launched into the song, she seemed to impress two thirds of the judges, delivering the number with an array of vocal calisthenics. Still, Perry wanted to see what ChaKell could do without all the smoke and mirrors. "I just want you to sing like, 'Happy Birthday,'" Perry requested. "Give me some vocals."

ChaKell did as prompted and won Perry over. "Strip it all down, take all that frosting off, and there's still a great cake," Perry said. "I appreciate 'I Kissed a Girl,' that was wild and colorful, but if you could mix it up with what you just did."

Fellow judge Luke Bryan noted that he felt ChaKell was still at least a year away from finding her own voice and identity as an artist, while Perry warned the hopeful young woman to make sure that her skill could back up her attention-getting tactics. "You're just trying to grab people's attention," Perry said. "You want to grab it and then you want to hold it. That's what I did with 'I Kissed a Girl.'"

Still, ChaKell's take on Perry's song earned her a ticket to Hollywood with yes votes from Perry and Lionel Richie. Bryan was a no, but he encouraged ChaKell to prove him wrong.

Watch the video above for more. American Idol airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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