McKenna Faith Breinholt Returns to ‘American Idol’ Stage With Acoustic Version of “Make You Feel My Love”

American Songwriter participates in affiliate programs with various companies. Links originating on American Songwriter’s website that lead to purchases or reservations on affiliate sites generate revenue for American Songwriter . This means that American Songwriter may earn a commission if/when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links.

Following her incredible performance of Katy Perry’s ET, McKenna Faith Breinholt returned to the American Idol stage to perform an acoustic rendition of Adele’s Make You Feel My Love. 

Videos by American Songwriter

Ditching her previous all-black leather outfit, Breinholt took the stage with a dark green sparkling ensemble as she played the guitar and sang the iconic track.

Lionel Richie immediately praised McKenna Faith Breinholt for her performance. “How you can make an Adele song a very smokey, smokey… I mean it was so wonderful to listen to,” he shared. “And by the way, it’s the perfect song for your voice. That was really great. That was choice picking for your song.” 

Following the audience’s cheers, Katy Perry said the song was her favorite from Adele. “You did it so well and it is so you,” she pointed out. “I’m just really proud of you because tonight, I think you showed us how to transform, how to keep people on the edge of their seats, and just to – life is all about change and evolution, and you’re just growing every single time. I love it.” 

Luke Bryan then said, “We can push you to have all these wildfire moments and all that, but when you get down to it, that’s your kind of song. And it was really done perfectly. I don’t think we’ve seen you with [a guitar during live show] and that was just a beautiful song, song choice, image…. Everything was great!”

Following the performance, American Idol fans were quick to point out that McKenna Faith Breinholt had a better stage presence than other contestants. Unfortunately, her performance wasn’t enough to make it to the top 5. 

“McKenna is so much better than Tristan. I’ll never understand Americans when it comes to voting on American Idol.” 

Another fan added, “What the !?!? Emmmmy?! Are you serious?! Over Julia and McKenna?!” 

(Photo via Instagram / American Idol)

Log In