American Idol’s Mia Matthews Shares Loophole That Allowed Her to Perform Shania Twain’s 1995 Hit Song

Mia Matthews is headed home to Alabama from Hollywood after her American Idol elimination. The 19-year-old country singer is taking time to decompress, stopping for all the sights and answering questions from social media followers. Her final Idol performance came on “Year of Birth” night, during which the top 10 finalists performed hits from the year they were born. Matthews’ choice of Shania Twain’s “No One Needs to Know” left some viewers scratching their heads. Twain released the song in 1995, per Spotify, as part of her second studio album The Woman in Me. Matthews’ birth didn’t come for another nine years. The teenager recently took to Instagram to explain how she was able to perform the song.

Shania Twain Re-Released This Hit In the Early Aughts

In her Instagram Stories Tuesday (April 30), Matthews responded to a question on many American Idol viewers’ minds: “How were you born the year of the Shania song you performed?”

The season 22 contestant shared a screenshot of the tracklist of Shania Twain’s first Greatest Hits album. The compilation boasted 17 of the “Don’t Be Stupid” singer’s top 10 hits.

In purple, Matthews circled the album’s release date: Nov. 8, 2004. “Shania rereleased it on her Greatest Hits album in ’04,” she wrote, followed by three purple heart emojis.

Matthews nailed the track’s notes and flirty spirit, but blanked on part of the lyrics. She later apologized to the multi-GRAMMY winner in an Instagram post: “sorry for messing the words up queen.”

Mia Matthews Gets Candid About Her ‘American Idol’ Experience

In another post to her Instagram Stories, Matthews stressed that she had “absolutely no regrets” about her stint on reality television. However, the top 10 finalist admitted she felt some relief at reaching the end of the road.

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“It is so mentally taxing and… I kinda knew I was going home before the show even started,” Matthews wrote in the caption. “I think I had given up without giving up if that makes sense.”

“I had so much fun and wouldn’t trade the memories and all you people I met along the way for a second…” Matthews continued. “I was just really tired and didn’t have the drive to keep going anymore.”

Featured image via Instagram