‘American Idol’ returns to Ch. 9: Watch highlights from the season premiere

“American Idol” kicked off its third season on Ch. 9 Sunday with plenty of talent and memorable moments.

Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan returned as the judges for thousands of superstar hopefuls.

Read: American Idol returns with shock and awe auditions

Here are some of the highlights from the star is born-studded season premiere.

‘Bachelor’/'American Idol’ crossover

Before making her appearance on “American Idol” Sunday night, Meghan Fitton was such a fan of “The Bachelor,” another show on Ch. 9 that she hosts a “very bootleg” podcast recap of the show that she said “maybe five people listen to ... and that’s generous.”

Fitton, a 23-year-old fitness instructor from Brooklyn, sang “Love Where You’re At” by Allen Stone for her audition, which Richie called “raw and wonderful.”

Fitton got a rosy surprise when it came to the judge’s decision to send her to Hollywood after audition. See that moment below.

Subway singer rises

A 20-year-old New York subway singer who goes by Just Sam left the judges -- and even at one point, herself -- misty eyed with her performance of Lauren Daigle’s “You Say.”

Katy gets catty

“Idol” hopeful Saveria’s performance of her original song “Tell Me This is Real” got mixed reviews from the three judges, but Perry was enthusiastic about sending her through.

When her fellow judges squashed Saveria’s chance of moving onto Hollywood, Perry went on the defense, even destroying parts of the set. See her reaction below.

Social media voiced their opinions, too, saying Saveria was robbed.

Related: Lake Nona’s Alyssa Raghu makes top 8 on ‘American Idol’

Mosh pit!

Hunter “The Comeback” Gibson made history by starting the first mosh pit in “American Idol” history.

One person’s garbage man...

Garbage man Doug Kiker charmed the judges and the rest of the country with his audition. Afterward, #FanOfTheGarbageMan was trending on Twitter.

“American Idol” returns Sunday at 8 p.m. on Ch. 9.

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