American Idol Alum Nutsa Shares Who She Thinks Should Replace Katy Perry (Exclusive)

In a Q&A with TooFab, the Georgia-born singer reflected on her experience appearing on the show and shared her thoughts on Perry as a judge, while also revealing the star she would like to see replace the “California Girls” singer.

Nutsa competed in American Idol Season 21, which aired last year, and made it to the Top 12. The 27-year-old has appeared in a handful of competition shows around the world, but called being on American Idol her “biggest dream,” saying that America has “everything” that she loves about music.

She only had good things to say about Perry, who joined as a judge when the show was revived for Season 16 in 2018, and signed off for good last month after seven seasons. While Nutsa initially said she was not sure who she would want as a possible replacement for Perry, she ultimately landed on a pop diva who actually is very familiar with the show as she was a previous judge!

Nusta told TooFab that she “would love to see” Mariah Carey return to the series. Mariah appeared on the judging panel for one season back in 2013.

Meanwhile, Nutsa recently showed off her talents in one of the biggest song competitions in the world, Eurovision 2024, in which she represented her native country of Georgia. She performed her song, “Firefighter,” and made it to the grand final.

Nutsa said she had a positive experience, but admitted that it was “really tough” as she felt “pressure” to represent her country well. Ultimately, she shared that she was “very happy” and feels “blessed” to have been given the opportunity to compete.

Elsewhere in the interview, Nutsa discussed her plans to record an album, shared details about releasing her own fragrance, explained why she loves performing America’s national anthem, and more!

See what she had to say in the full Q&A, below.

You recently represented Georgia in Eurovision and performed your song, “Firefighter.” And you were a finalist. Congratulations! What was that experience like for you?

That experience was really, really good, but it was really tough as well because it was a big responsibility for me to represent my country, because it’s been seven years that they didn’t go to finals and that’s why it was a big pressure for me, you know, because everybody was expecting from me that, “Oh my god, now she has to do something about it.” And I was very, very happy that me and my team, we made it and we got to finals. But I mean, it’s really the biggest exposure you could get in Europe. There is no higher level than Eurovision so I’m very happy that I was blessed to do that.

We have to ask. Have you ever seen the Netflix comedy, Eurovision Song Contest?

Actually everyone in America knows Eurovision from that, but I have not watched it. But I have to watch it for sure, right?

You competed in American Idol for Season 21, and finished in the Top 12. What was that experience like for you?

That was actually my biggest dream, to be honest. Obviously, America is really the greatest stage that you can get right now because they invented everything that I love about music, to be honest. This culture that I am listening to is from America so it was really a big achievement for me. And someone from the country that I am from, it was like the first time that Georgian has ever, or even Eastern European that ever [has] participated in that kind of a contest. And it was me, so I felt really blessed about it. It was very tough, by the way. It was very tough. It was very tough because I was feeling like a foreigner. It’s not a good feeling to have. But overall, it gave me a really big push in life.

And you made it very far …

I was not expecting, to be honest, because it’s not international, so I was having my doubts you know, maybe I think [I’m] good, but maybe Americans prefer an American idol to have Americans in front of everybody. But I was really, really happy that I was able to get where I got in that contest.

Katy Perry revealed that the current Season 22 will be her last. What are your thoughts of her as a judge on the show, and who would you like to see replace her?

I don’t know because she was on that show for so long. She actually gave me very [good advice], and I really like her, to be honest. I don’t really know who [I’d want to replace her]. I think I would love to see … maybe Mariah Carey [come] back to the show because she is also someone that I love her to come back to American Idol.

Throughout your career so far, you have competed in several reality singing competition series around the world, including American Idol, which we just mentioned. Would you ever consider appearing on a reality show where you don’t have to perform? Such as The Amazing Race, Survivor, The Bachelor, Big Brother …

That kind of a TV show I don’t really like, but I don’t know. I don’t know. I mean, I love singing contests because it gives you big exposure, but that type of a TV show I’m not really [sure] what type of exposure it would give you. I don’t know if it would interest me as a singer and if it’s going to benefit me as a singer, then why not? But to just gain popularity and to just be there because I want to get famous or something like that, I don’t know to be honest.

You have performed America’s National Anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” at multiple professional sports games, including Dodgers stadium, a Lakers game, and most recently Yankee stadium. It is considered one of the most difficult national anthems to perform. Have you found that to be true? What do you enjoy about performing the song?

When I was watching “The Star Spangled Banner” … When I was young, I was always dreaming to be in the stadium and singing national anthems in Georgia and in [America] as well. It’s very hard actually, it’s a different type of hard because there is no one other than you, there is no music, no nothing and you’re singing in front of so many people. It’s really hard. But I think that for the first time you get more nervous rather than the second time, so I think now I got so used to it. I feel happy when I sing it and I feel proud. I feel very honored to be singing the national anthem.

Last month, you dropped your single, “Mother’s Love.” What can you tell us about the inspiration for the song? What does it mean to you?

“Mother’s Love” is a song that means a lot for me because I love my mother a lot and she sacrificed a lot of things for me. I appreciate all the moms, not only my mom, but all the moms because the job that they are doing is really big. I think that it’s a beautiful tribute to her because she really deserves it from her child, and I think that on Mother’s Day, every kid should tribute the song.

Do you have plans to record or release an EP or album?

Definitely. That’s what I’m working on right now. I have a couple of songs that I recorded so far, but I think that I will not release it yet, and I’m trying to meet with different producers and have studio sessions with them. I feel like I’m going to release an EP this year, and I’m going to release six songs from that EP, but as I said, I haven’t decided yet which producer I’m going to choose. It’s very important for me to be very comfortable with the producer, and that’s why it takes a little bit long, but it’s going to be done this year.

We also heard that you are releasing a fragrance in August. What can you tell us about that?

So I have [an] obsession with fragrances, to be honest. Some girls have [an] obsession with shoes, some girls have with bags, but me, I have [an] obsession with fragrances. So, I was like, “I love this Oud and Arabic smells so much.” I was like, “Oh my god” and everybody always compliments me on my smell. They always say, “Oh my god you smell so nice.” So I decided to have a type of fragrance, why not? And we decided to come up with a very original name and the name is “Fire.” And we called the fragrance “Fire” because we were inspired after Eurovision from my song “Firefighter.” I think those who are asking me and who want to know, those who want to feel confident, to be honest, they should get this fragrance because this fragrance, I know I’m obsessed, but I’m obsessed because it gives me this sexuality and it gives me confidence. I think that this perfume that I worked on really hard to get the smell that I like, it’s going to be that perfume.