Hannah Harper got a Tiffany & Co. gift and a handwritten note from Carrie Underwood after making the Top 11 on American Idol, and she showed it off on Facebook before her Monday performance. The 25-year-old singer said the note meant more than the jewelry.
“Didn’t think my first piece of Tiffany & Co. jewelry would come from Carrie Underwood,” Harper wrote. She added that “the part that got me the most was the handwritten note,” calling it proof of “who she is.”
Underwood wrote, “I cannot wait to see what God has in store for you [and] I am so blessed to have a front row seat,” while Harper said the message described her as an “inspiration” to women and moms everywhere. The gesture landed as Harper kept advancing on the show, making it through Monday night after singing Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” and ending the episode among nine contestants still in the running.
The gift fits a pattern. Underwood sends presents to all contestants who reach the Top 11, according to a report cited in the source, and Harper’s run has already been one of the more closely watched this season. Earlier this year, her audition for Season 24 went viral when she sang “String Cheese,” an original song about postpartum depression after the birth of her third child, and Underwood cried while listening alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. Last month in Hawaii, Harper drew more praise for “Ain’t No Grave,” with Richie telling her she “went from singing to preaching” and Underwood saying, “You got our attention.”
That is what makes the note matter more than the box. Harper is not just another contestant receiving a routine gift from a judge. She is a singer whose story has been carried by the music itself, from a viral audition to a strong showing on Rock & Roll Hall of Fame night, and Underwood’s words suggest she sees more ahead for her than a brief run on American Idol. Harper now has the gift, the note and another round to justify the attention it brought her.
