Lionel Richie had one word for Laine Hardy's first performance during the season finale of American Idol: Nasty!

All three judges praised Hardy's cover of Marc Broussard's "Home." It's a swampy rock song that the Louisiana contestant handled with ease. Hardy wore a guitar around his neck and a salmon colored jacket as he worked through the year 2004 cut. He was just three years old when it was released.

"If you apply yourself like you've applied yourself every single week and don't get lazy you're gonna be the biggest star on the planet," Katy Perry said after Hardy finished.

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Luke Bryan also praised the performance and footage of Hardy and Broussard together while Richie offered a single gripe.

"Not only did you join the competition," he said referring to the back door way he auditioned in January, "but you stole my look in the process." He then paused to sum it all up in a single word: "Nasty."

Hardy joins Alejandro Aranda and Madison VanDenburg as finalists during this second season of American Idol on ABC. The 18-year-old is the most country of the three finalists although it's not clear what genre he'll choose if he wins, or even if he doesn't. He performed rock, country and cajun pop before joining the show again in 2019. In 2018 he was also a finalists on American Idol.

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