Carrie Underwood Connects With Fan in Intimate Moment on Camera

Carrie Underwood’s having a full-circle moment with her first-time American Idol judging gig -- and she's spilling all the tea about it to TMZ.

We caught up with Carrie in NYC Wednesday, and she’s telling us joining Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie on the panel is great so far -- but when we asked her how she deals with difficult emotional moments on the show, an opportunity arose that showed us.

You have to check out the video we caught -- Carrie displayed her nurturing side and connected with a fan who opened up to her about how her music helped the woman through the loss of her own mother.

It was pure emotion -- Carrie was locked in, totally transfixed on the fan, making sure she knew she was 100% supported and appreciated.