Katy Perry Says Tristen Gressett Was a 'Wildcard' After Choosing Lady K to Advance in' Idol' 's Top 10

"I'm gonna go to his concerts for sure," Perry says of Gressett after he was eliminated on Monday's episode

Katy Perry. Photo: ABC/Eric McCandless

The competition is shaking up — and American Idol is officially narrowed down to its top 10 contestants.

On Monday night's show of the singing competition series, 11 contestants took the stage to perform a song chosen by judges — and after the top nine votes were cast, it was up to judges Luke Bryan and Katy Perry to save one of the final two.

Monday's episode marked the first time that the judges had some friendly competition, through the judges' song contest where they each chose a song for each contestant anonymously. If the contestant chose to perform their song they would get a point — and after a quick comeback by Perry, 37, she and Bryan, 45, ended up with a tie and total of four votes each.

Katy Perry. ABC/Eric McCandless

The prize? They got to choose who would advance in the competition. The final two contestants were Lady K and Tristen Gressett — and after Perry and Bryan briefly discussed, they chose Lady K to move on to the next round.

Lady K, Ryan Seacrest, Tristen Gressett. ABC/Eric McCandless

"I didn't think that Lady K had her best night tonight," the "Firework" singer tells PEOPLE, Us Weekly and Parade during a group interview about Lady K's performance, where she forgot a few words to Olivia Rodrigo's "Traitor." "But I do think that Tristen is a wild card."

Tristen Gressett. ABC/Eric McCandless

"He's a rock and roller," Perry continued of Gressett's performance of "You Can't Always Get What You Want." "And it's really challenging for that genre sometimes to get really far, because it's not about who's the best singer — you have to check a little bit of a lot of boxes. But I think that he definitely poured a lot of sauce on his performance tonight and you got to strike a balance. I wish him the best. I'm gonna be seeing him on stage. I'm gonna go to his concerts for sure."

"It was challenging because it wasn't super-duper obvious because of the performance," she noted in regards to Lady K. "Based on performances tonight, but I think Lady K is giving us the glow-up all the time. I love it."

Lady K. ABC/Eric McCandless

After Lady K's performance, she guessed Perry chose the song "Traitor" — but to her surprise, it was actually fellow judge Lionel Richie's pick.

"Is there a teenage girl trapped in your body?" Perry asked Richie after realizing his song choice.

By the end of the episode, the top 10 consisted of Noah Thompson, Christian Guardino, Mike Parker, Nicolina, Lady K, Huntergirl, Leah Marlene, Emyrson Flora, Fritz Hager and Jay.