American Idol 2026: Braden Rumfelt Shines on “Cardigan” for Taylor Swift night
For the American Idol Season 24 Top 7 week, the singers took on songs from the Taylor Swift catalog as well as songs from California singers. Nikki Glaser, comedian, and Taylor Swift superfan joined the judges panel. It appeared most of the contestants were not Swifties as many of them gave somewhat underwhelming performances.
That was until 23-year-old Murphy, North Carolina native, Braden Rumfelt took the stage. He closed the first half of the show which was the Taylor Swift theme. He took on “Cardigan” which was actually one of the few Taylor Swift songs that had been tackled on the show before, by season 22 contestant, McKenna Breinholt. Braden started soft before belting out the chorus showcasing his soulful pop tone. But, his voice truly exploded on the second verse. He emotionally connected and for me this was his best performance since Hawaii where he absolutely excelled singing “Love On The Brain.”
“That was like my favorite thing I’ve seen you do so far”
“You were in the pocket,” said Nikki afterward. She asked him if he loves the song, to which he admitted, “I didn’t know it at first”. Luke Bryan said, “That was like my favorite thing I’ve seen you do so far.” Lionel Richie observed, “You put your foot right in it.” commending his believability. Carrie Underwood said, “It was one of my favorite things you did as well.” Braden and Ryan Seacrest shared a moment as Ryan put on a cardigan to match Braden, who wore one to represent the title of the song.
Braden advanced to the Top 5 at the end of the show. He has been up and down in the lives after he looked like a front-runner much of the early pre-taped rounds. It was great to see him do well on both “Cardigan” and his California song, “This Love” by Maroon 5, which proved he can do uptempo.
The other stand out performances of the night were Keyla Richardson closing the night and California theme with her powerful vocals on “I’d Rather Go Blind” by Etta James, Hannah Harper giving a satisfying country vocal on “That’s The Way Love Goes” by Merle Haggard, and Jordan McCullough doing a very respectable job on the overdone “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt. All 3 advanced to the top 5, along with Chris Tungseth and Braden. I do still feel like this season is lacking a true stand out moment. The question is, will it come in the last two episodes?
