It takes courage to cover Queen on “American Idol,” performing a song made famous by Freddie Mercury. Many have tried and some have succeeded — we’re looking at you, Adam Lambert — but eyebrows typically raise when a Queen classic gets revived by a hopeful on reality TV.

Hannah Nicolaisen, an Alabama resident, took a risk when she chose “Somebody to Love” for her top 20 performance on the ABC reality series. Viewer votes were at stake, and memories of Mercury, as well as Lambert, must have been swirling in the heads of folks who watched Nicolaisen sing the soaring rock ballad on Sunday’s episode.

To hear the “Idol” judges tell it, the risk was well worth it.

“That last note reminded me that this is your path,” Katy Perry said. “And hopefully, you’re just on a rocket ride.”

“Way to really show us another dynamic that you have,” Luke Bryan said. “And it was a great performance.”

“What I admire most about an athlete is the fact that you have guts,” Lionel Richie said, referencing Nicolaisen’s past as a college volleyball player. “And what you put on that stage is a demonstration that you believe in where you are, mind and body in the same spot. That’s something you have to have naturally, and my dear, you have that in spades.”

Sunday’s episode was filmed in advance at Red Studios in Hollywood. During the program, the top 20 singers were announced and six contestants were eliminated. Nicolaisen survived the cut, which was determined by viewer votes from previous episodes.

Her performance of “Somebody to Love” was for a new voting round that started during Sunday’s episode and ended Monday morning. The next cut will be for a top 12 — announced during Monday’s episode — with 10 singers determined by viewer votes and two singers chosen by the judges.

Nicolaisen, 24, has been gaining ground throughout the competition, earning a golden ticket during auditions, sailing through Hollywood week and pleasing the judges during the “Showstoppers” round.

Alabama has yet to figure into her backstory on the show, and she’s been using her hometown of Houston as a geographic touchstone. But no matter: We’re claiming Nicolaisen as an Alabama singer, anyway.

She’s a former standout volleyball player at the University of Illinois Springfield, now working on a career as a singer-songwriter in Montgomery. Nicolaisen moved to Alabama last year, according to her Instagram page, and has been performing in Montgomery venues such as The Tipping Point. Nicolaisen also has worked as a technical recruiter for Stratice in Montgomery, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Nicolaisen is the only Alabama singer to make it this far in Season 21. Another singer from the state, Johnny Knox, received a golden ticket to Hollywood, after giving the judges homemade sourdough bread during his audition. However, Knox was eliminated during the Hollywood round after testing positive for COVID and performing for the judges via video from his hotel room.

Alabama has a significant history on “American Idol” that includes wins by Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks in 2003 and 2006. The state also has produced two runners-up, Diana DeGarmo (2004) and Bo Bice (2005). More than 20 other contestants from Alabama have been featured during the auditions, Hollywood week and live performances.

IF YOU WATCH: “American Idol” airs on Sundays and Mondays at 7 p.m. CT on ABC. The series will move into single weekly episodes later in the competition.

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