As American Idol inches closer to a finale and declaring a winner, Top 5 finalist Maddie Poppe works to make her name familiar. On Sunday night's (May 6) episode, the singer-songwriter turned out an impressive version of “If It Makes You Happy,” a hit that Sheryl Crow took to the Top 10 on the Billboard charts back in 1996, the year Poppe was born.

“I know we get redundant by telling you how wonderful you are, but I’m going to go home and find some more words to describe you,” judge Luke Bryan said after she turned in a satisfying performance. “You are just showing us so many things.”

Indeed, it’s the judges' enthusiasm for her that has propelled Pope throughout the show. “All the judges take time backstage to talk to us and check in with us,” Poppe explains in a recent interview with Taste of Country. "At first it was just unreal that I was talking to Luke and Katy (Perry) and Lionel (Richie), but it now seems sort of normal. I know at first a lot of people wondered how it would work between the three of them, but I don’t think it could have turned out any better. I just love their chemistry."

Before the night was over, Poppe also showed off more of her talent range, sitting down behind the piano to take on “Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor:

No matter what happens at the end, Poppe is securing a seat for the long haul, playing music and working on her songwriting — something she'll get back to work on after the show wraps.

"I haven’t done much songwriting because the live shows have been so hectic,” she says. “We are always busy and we really don’t have much downtime, but it’s something I definitely love to do.”

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