american idol tour dates 2023

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Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard to tour together in 2023

The tour kicks off in April.

"American Idol" season two finalists Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard will mark the 20th anniversary of their appearance on the show with a 2023 joint tour throughout the U.S. and Canada titled "Twenty The Tour."

The duo revealed the exciting news on Instagram, along with the official tour poster and dates for the first leg of the trek.

"@clayaiken & I are hitting the road this Spring, twenty years after our debuts on American Idol. Join us for the first leg of Twenty | The Tour," Studdard shared on Instagram.

"Twenty The Tour," kicking off April 12 in Troy, New York, will include stops in Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta, before wrapping up May 16 in Wausau, Wisconsin.

Tickets can be purchased through the tour's official website.

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The pair also shared their exciting tour announcement during a Monday appearance on "The View," noting, "We were here five years ago to announce our Broadway Christmas special, which was exciting for us. ... We are about to celebrate our 20th anniversary from the year we were on 'Idol,' and so Ruben and I are are hitting the road together with a 20th anniversary tour all across the country through the year."

"We're starting out this spring and we're going to be celebrating the last 20 years since we did 'Idol' and the music we've gotten to make and the friendships we made along the way," he continued.

Aiken and Studdard also revealed they'll be returning to "American Idol" in the upcoming season for the finale. The duo faced off against each other in the "American Idol" season two finale in 2003, which Studdard ultimately won.

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‘American Idol’ Alum Maddie Poppe To Headline Summer Tour 2023

Reading Time: 2 minutes

American Idol standout Maddie Poppe recently announced that she’ll be embarking on tour this year. The self-titled concert series is set to begin this summer and will run from July to August.

Maddie Poppe Set to Hit the Road this July

On May 13, Poppe enthusiastically informed her fans about the musical tour. The American Idol alum announced the project alongside a simple poster, displaying all the dates of the tour.

“Excited to hit the road on my own headline tour this summer!” she wrote. “Tickets available now on my website!”

Maddie Poppe Summer 2023 will kick off on July 6 in Swisher, Iowa and will conclude on August 25 in Phoenix, Arizona. Before the tour ends, she will make stops in Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Furthermore, Poppe will also perform in Illinois, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and DC.

In the comment section, fans have expressed their excitement over the upcoming tour. Meanwhile, some of her followers wish that she will be doing shows in the Southeast.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maddie Poppe (@maddiepoppe) RELATED POSTS: ‘American Idol’ Season 22 Decides the Top 12 Singers Luke Bryan Reacts to Katy Perry Leaving ‘American Idol’ ‘American Idol’ Top 20 Revealed as Contestants Perform for America’s Vote

She’ll Be Opening For Joshua Radin This Fall

Apparently, her tour is not the only reason why Poppe will be hitting the road this year. The American Idol alum will also be joining Joshua Radin in his concert this fall in the United States and Canada.

“Excited to be joining @joshuaradin on his fall tour! Ticket link in bio!” she wrote .

Poppe is set to serve as Radin’s opening act from September 8 in Dallas, Texas to September 23 in Natick, Massachusetts. During the same tour, Poppe will also be performing in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York.

In both tours, fans are expecting that Poppe will be performing her newest single “Good Enough To Let You Go ” and “ Screw You a Little Bit ” live.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joshua Radin (@joshuaradin)

Ryan Seacrest Gives Exclusive Behind-The-Scenes Tour of ‘American Idol’s 2023 Set

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American Idol Winner Iam Tongi Reveals 2023 Tour Dates

American Idol 2023 winner Iam Tongi Announces Tour Dates – See the schedule

American Idol 2023 winner Iam Tongi announces his first post-Idol tour. The singer-songwriter plays the Beach-It Festival in Virginia Beach, Virginia on June 23 alongside 2021 winner Chayce Beckham and American Idol judge Luke Bryan . The Voice alum Ashland Craft will also play the three day country music festival.

On July 1, Iam heads to Kahuku, Hawaii to perform for a Ohana Day concert at Turtle Bay Resort, the venue where he played his Hometown concert . And then it’s back to Tacoma Washington for the Reggae all the Way festival. The singer will also play a slew of California venues, including Ventura Music Hall, the Troubadour and the California Mid State Fair.

American Idol Winner Iam Tongi Sings at High School Graduation American Idol 2023 Winner Iam Tongi – Every Performance Ranked American Idol Winner Iam Tongi Earns First Billboard No. 1 Iam Tongi ‘Loves’ Accusations that American Idol ‘Rigged’ His Win

The tour winds up in Auckland New Zealand for the Eden Festival on October 7. However, the announcement on social media states that more shows will be announced. Click the l ink in his Instagram bio for ticket information. He doesn’t have a website yet.

“’ll be seeing you on the road this summer!” Iam writes on Instagram. “Some tickets are already available at the link in my bio & more will be available soon – check the individual festival/venue websites for full details.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by William Tongi (@wtongi)

Iam Tongi 2023 Concert Schedule

Iam is currently writing new music.

Recently, Iam told American Songwriter that he’s written a lot of songs “some of them not so good,” he confesses. But he calls songwriting a process. “The more you do it…the better you get…the more creative thoughts you have.”

Iam added that he is working on a song. “It think it will be a cool song,” he said. “That’s all I can say!”

However, Iam did post a photo from inside the studio on his Instagram. “Back in the studio with some new music, Yessah @olivierbassil and @whoisclever.” Olivier Bassil has produced chart topping hip hop acts like Young Boy and Rod Wave. Clever is a songwriter and artist from Alabama.

Iam Tongi won American Idol season 21 back in May 2023. The singer became a fan favorite after his audition of “Monster” went viral. The singer dedicated the performance to his father who had passed away just months before. The American Idol Top 3 also included Christian singer, Megan Danielle as the runner up and country crooner Colin Stough as 2nd runner-up.

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Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard to tour together in 2023

"American Idol" season two finalists Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard will mark the 20th anniversary of their appearance on the show with a 2023 joint tour throughout the U.S. and Canada titled "Twenty The Tour."

The duo revealed the exciting news on Instagram, along with the official tour poster and dates for the first leg of the trek.

"@clayaiken & I are hitting the road this Spring, twenty years after our debuts on American Idol. Join us for the first leg of Twenty | The Tour," Studdard shared on Instagram.

"Twenty The Tour," kicking off April 12 in Troy, New York, will include stops in Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta, before wrapping up May 16 in Wausau, Wisconsin.

Tickets can be purchased through the tour's official website.

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The pair also shared their exciting tour announcement during a Monday appearance on "The View," noting, "We were here five years ago to announce our Broadway Christmas special, which was exciting for us. ... We are about to celebrate our 20th anniversary from the year we were on 'Idol,' and so Ruben and I are are hitting the road together with a 20th anniversary tour all across the country through the year."

"We're starting out this spring and we're going to be celebrating the last 20 years since we did 'Idol' and the music we've gotten to make and the friendships we made along the way," he continued.

Aiken and Studdard also revealed they'll be returning to "American Idol" in the upcoming season for the finale. The duo faced off against each other in the "American Idol" season two finale in 2003, which Studdard ultimately won.

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American Idol Schedule 2024: Full air dates for Season 22 of the show

American Idol , one of the longest-running singing competitions series, returned for its 22nd season (and the seventh after its revival on ABC) on Sunday, February 18 on the network. As usual, a new array of contestants from every city of the US will try to win a ticket to Hollywood to keep their musical dreams alive and hopefully become the next winner of American Idol’s prize and contracts . And we’ve got you covered with the full schedule for Season 22.

Superstars Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie will return once more as judges. However, as Perry announced during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” this will be her last season , after seven years on the show. “I love ‘Idol’ so much, it’s connected me with the heart of America,” she told the host on Feb. 12th. “But I feel like I need to go out to feel that pulse of my own beat.”

Another familiar face which is returning to the Idol stage is host and producer Ryan Seacrest , who has been part of the franchise since its beginning in 2001. “I remember that I started when I was 26 and now I’m not,” he joked during an appearance in Good Morning America while promoting the show. “And now these kids (the contestants), their parents are younger than I. It’s a blessing,” he added. So, here is your guide for the full schedule of American Idol 2024.

American Idol Schedule 2024: When are the next episodes?

New episodes will premiere every Sunday. Meanwhile, the episodes will be available to stream on Hulu the following day . At some point of the season, new episodes will also broadcast on Mondays.

“American Idol” typically follows the same schedule of six weeks of auditions, before moving to Hollywood Round , the Showstoppers round and then, live concerts.

Confirmed Schedule & Air Dates for American Idol 2024

Auditions – Six weeks (from Feb. 18 – March 24)

Sundays and Mondays

Hollywood Round – Sunday, March 31

Showstopper Round/Final Judgement – Monday, April 1st

Top 24 at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii – Sunday, April 7th and Monday, April 8th

Top 20 – Sunday, April 14th

Season Finale – May 12 (Estimated)

*This article will be updated with new information.

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Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard to tour together in 2023

American Idol season two finalists Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard will mark the 20th anniversary of their appearance on the show with a 2023 joint tour throughout the U.S. and Canada, titled Twenty The Tour.

“@clayaiken & I are hitting the road this Spring, twenty years after our debuts on American Idol. Join us for the first leg of Twenty | The Tour,” Studdard shared on Instagram , along with the official tour poster and dates for the first leg of the trek.

Twenty The Tour, kicking off April 12 in Troy, New York, will include stops in Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta, before wrapping up May 16 in Wausau, Wisconsin. Tickets can be purchased through the tour’s official website, rubenandclay.com .

The pair discussed the tour during a Monday appearance on The View , noting, “We were here five years ago to announce our Broadway Christmas special, which was exciting for us… we are about to celebrate our 20th anniversary from the year we were on Idol , and so Ruben and I are are hitting the road together with a 20th anniversary tour all across the country through the year.”

“We’re starting out this spring and we’re going to be celebrating the last 20 years since we did Idol and the music we’ve gotten to make and the friendships we made along the way,” he continued

Aiken and Studdard also revealed they’ll be returning to American Idol in the upcoming season for the finale. The duo faced off against each other in the American Idol season two finale in 2003, which Studdard ultimately won.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Queen + Adam Lambert Announce 2023 North American ‘Rhapsody’ Tour Dates

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Queen + Adam Lambert are bringing their Rhapsody Tour back to North America for their first shows on this side of the Atlantic since 2019. The tour kicks off Oct. 4 in Baltimore, Maryland, and wraps up Nov. 11 in Los Angeles, California.

“This tour has lots of new bells and lots of new whistles,” Queen guitarist Brian May tells Rolling Stone . “We’ve evolved as performers, I think. We’ve stepped up our game. We have better chemistry than ever. We understand each other better than ever, and we feel more free in the way that we interpret stuff. We’re very happy with it. There’s lots of new production and stuff we want to excite you with.”

The set will focus on Queen classics like “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Somebody to Love,” and “Radio Ga Ga.” But they sprinkled in deep cuts like “Tear It Up” and “A King of Magic” in Europe last year, and hope to keep doing that.

“This show has evolved since its been in America since we’ve taken it around the world,” adds drummer Roger Taylor. “It’s quite a different show in a way, while retaining all the big hits, which so many people want to hear.”

Ticket sales begin Friday, March 31. In an effort to keep prices low and reduce scalping, the band is going to utilize the Ticketmaster Face Value Exchange, which makes it impossible to sell tickets for more than face value. “It’s an experiment,” says May. “We got sick of seeing our fans get ripped off by scalpers. We’re hoping this works out.”

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Queen + Adam Lambert first played together on the 2009 finale of American Idol. They began gigging together in 2012, and have stayed on the road consistently over the past decade. Filling in for Freddie Mercury was a daunting task at first for Lambert, but he’s grown very comfortable with the job over the years.

“I feel less anxiety now,” he says. “I’ve matured as a performer. I trust myself a bit more. I will say that when the movie [ Bohemian Rhapsody ] came out, we had all these new fans, and many of them were young, I felt this little pang of, ‘Oh, these are new fans that haven’t been to a show yet.’ I needed to prove myself again, which is good. It keeps me on my game.”

The 2018 movie was an enormous success that grossed $911 million and won four Academy Awards, including Best Actor for star Rami Malek. It ends at Live Aid in 1985, and there’s been scattered talk over the past few years of a sequel that would chronicle Mercury’s final years.

“We need a script,” says May. “That’s what it comes down to. It took us 12 years to get the script for Bohemian Rhapsody , and get the right team in place. I’m not anxious. I think if the right thing comes along, it might work. We have our wonderful producer, Graham King, on it. It’s a possibility. If the right planets align, it might happen.”

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“He would be welcome,” adds Taylor. “But I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

At the moment, this next leg of the Rhapsody Tour is just 14 shows, but it’s very possible they’ll tack on more. “People are buying tickets,” says Lambert. “And hey, we like performing.”

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Queen + Adam Lambert 2023 North American Tour Dates

Oct. 4 – Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena Oct. 8 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena Oct. 10 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena Oct. 12 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden Oct. 15 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden Oct. 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center Oct. 23 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena Oct. 25 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena Oct. 27 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center Oct. 30 – Chicago, IL @ United Center Nov. 2 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center Nov. 5 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena Nov. 8 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center Nov. 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ BMO Stadium

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Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Host Ryan Seacrest Return to 'American Idol' for Season 6 on ABC

The iconic star-maker competition series "American Idol" welcomes back music industry legends, judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, and veteran host Ryan Seacrest to help discover America's next singing sensation for a sixth season on ABC when it returns in spring 2023. "American Idol" ranked as the No. 1 program in the Sunday 8-10 p.m. time slot last season among Adults 18-49. In fact, "American Idol" won its time period for the third straight year in Adults 18-49 and was ABC's No. 1 program last season in Total Viewers.

Season six auditions kick off Wednesday, Aug. 3, with the return of "Idol Across America," the live virtual nationwide search for the next superstar. Auditions take place across all 50 states plus Washington, D.C, and start with the annual First 500 event, where hopefuls can sign up to grab a VIP spot before anyone else. "Idol Across America" offers hopefuls the opportunity to showcase their talents face-to-face with an "American Idol" producer, from anywhere in America, across any official audition date for a chance to proceed to the judge audition round of the competition. 

Celebrating 2022's Idol winner Noah Thompson

"Idol Across America" auditions will be held as follows (subject to change):

• 'First 500' VIP Event (Aug. 3)
• Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina (Aug. 5)
• Florida, Michigan, Virginia, West Virginia (Aug. 8)
• Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas (Aug. 10)
• Connecticut, New Jersey, New York (Aug. 12)
• Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi ( Aug. 15)
• Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee (Aug. 17)
• Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington (Aug. 19)
• Open Call: Nationwide (Aug. 22)
• Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin (Aug. 24)
• Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming (Aug. 26)
• Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. (Aug. 29)
• Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont (Aug. 31)

For information on how to sign up for "Idol Across America" and a chance to virtually audition in front of an "American Idol" producer, please visit  www.americanidol.com/auditions . More details on specific dates, full eligibility requirements, submission forms, terms and conditions are available on the website. Contestants must be at least 15 years old to audition and may do so on any "Idol Across America" date regardless of your location. 

"American Idol" is produced by Fremantle and 19 Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television. Executive producers include Megan Wolflick, also serving as showrunner, and Fremantle's Jennifer Mullin with Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman serving as executive producers for 19 Entertainment. Fremantle distributes the series worldwide..

About ABC Entertainment

ABC Entertainment's compelling programming includes "Grey's Anatomy," the longest-running medical drama in primetime television; ratings juggernaut "The Bachelor" franchise; riveting dramas "Big Sky," "The Good Doctor," "A Million Little Things," "The Rookie" and "Station 19"; trailblazing comedies "Abbott Elementary," "The Conners," "The Goldbergs," "Home Economics" and "The Wonder Years"; popular game shows, including "The $100,000 Pyramid," "Celebrity Family Feud," "The Chase," "Press Your Luck" and "To Tell the Truth"; star-making sensation "American Idol"; "Judge Steve Harvey," the network's strongest unscripted series debut in a year; reality phenomenon "Shark Tank"; family favorites "America's Funniest Home Videos" and "Holey Moley"; "General Hospital," which has aired for more than 55 years on the network; and late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"; as well as the critically acclaimed, Emmy® Award-winning "Live in Front of a Studio Audience" specials. The network also boasts some of television's most prestigious awards shows, including "The Oscars®," "The CMA Awards" and the "American Music Awards."

ABC programming can also be viewed on demand and on  Hulu . 

About Fremantle

Fremantle is one of the world's largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of Entertainment, Drama & Film and Documentaries. 

Operating in 26 territories we are a proudly independent group of content creators. We produce and deliver high-quality multi-genre IP including some of the biggest entertainment formats, most watched international dramas, award winning films and hard-hitting documentaries, amplifying local stories on a global scale. 

From "Too Hot To Handle" to "The Mosquito Coast", "Game of Talents" to "The Hand of God", "The Farmer Wants A Wife" to "Got Talent", "Family Feud" to "My Brilliant Friend" and "The Investigation" to "Arctic Drift", our focus is simple – we create and deliver irresistible entertainment. 

We are also a world leader in digital and branded entertainment with more than 480 million fans across 1,600 social channels and over 40 billion views per year across all platforms. 

Fremantle is part of RTL Group, a global leader across broadcast, content and digital, itself a division of the international media giant Bertelsmann.

For more information, visit  www.fremantle.com , or follow us @ FremantleHQ  and visit our  LinkedIn  and  Facebook  pages.

About 19 Entertainment

19 Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television, is led by executive producers Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman with key programs including the global hit "American Idol" co-produced by Fremantle for ABC and "So You Think You Can Dance" co-produced by MRC Entertainment for Fox. Additionally, 19 Recordings has launched the music careers of platinum artists including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Phillip Phillips, Lauren Alaina; and more recently, contestants such as Gabby Barrett, Laci Kaye Booth, Francisco Martin and Julia Gargano.

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• jimmie's chicken shack
• Marcy Playground

Everclear Announce US Tour With Marcy Playground in Fall 2024

by Em Casalena April 25, 2024, 12:00 pm

Multi-genre outfit Everclear will kick off a tour of the United States this year with support from Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack! The newly-announced tour will be an all-around celebration of the band’s fourth album Songs From An American Movie Vol. One , which came out 25 years ago. While the band won’t play the album in its entirety, they will be featuring the biggest hits from the album as well as a few deep cuts here and there.

Videos by American Songwriter

Everclear will also be touring extensively throughout the US for various concerts and festival dates before the new tour kicks off in September.

The next stop on Everclear’s 2024 Tour will be on May 3 in Leesburg, Virginia at Tally Ho Theater. The first date of their 25th Anniversary Tour will be September 13 in San Francisco, California at August Hall with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack. The tour will close on November 2 in Porterville, California at Eagle Mountain Casino.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Everclear (@everclear)

There are a few different presale events that are currently live over on Ticketmaster . You can also find meet & greet packages and VIP tickets there as well. The presale events will end today at 11:59 pm local.

General on-sale will begin on April 26 at 10:00 am local. If you’re struggling to find tickets once the presales are over, we recommend checking Stubhub for last-minute seats. You might even get lucky and find tickets to Everclear’s upcoming tour at a lower price than face value. You’ve got nothing to lose!

Get your tickets to see the Everclear 2024 Tour with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack before they sell out!

Everclear 2024 Tour Dates

May 3 – Leesburg, VA – Tally Ho Theater

May 4 – Ocean City, MD – OC Springfest

May 23 – Warrendale, PA – Jergel’s Rhythm Grille

May 24 – Corning, NY – Rock the Park at GlassFest 2024

May 26 – Rockville, MD – Hometown Holidays

June 1 – St. Louis, MS – Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast

June 7 – Peoria, IL – Park-A-Palooza

June 8 – Eugene, OR – Cuthbert Amphitheater

June 21 – Warsaw, IN – Warsaw Community Summer Concert Series

June 22 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue

July 19 – Vernon Hills, IL – Vernon Hills Days

July 20 – Arnolds Park, IA – Preservation Plaza

July 25 – Springfield, MO – Ozark Empire Fairgrounds

July 26 – Kansas City, MO – Ameristar Casino – Star Pavilion

August 2 – London, KY – Summer Concert Series

August 8 – Haddon Heights, NJ – Sundown Music Series

August 9 – Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center

August 10 – Liverpool, NY – Sharkey’s

August 16 – Isle of Palms, SC – Windjammer

August 23 – LaGrange, GA – Sweetland Amphitheatre

August 24 – Franklin, KY – Summer Vibes Music Festival

September 13 – San Francisco, CA – August Hall (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 15 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 17 – Bend, OR – Silver Moon Brewing (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 18 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 20 – Reno, NV – J Resort (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 21 – Henderson, NV – Dollar Loan Center (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 22 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 24 – Emporia, KS – Emporia Granada Theatre (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 25 – The Colony, TX – Lava Cantina (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 27 – Rocky Mount, VA – Harvester Performance Center (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 28 – Virginia Beach, VA – Neptune Festival (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

September 29 – Winston-Salem, NC – The Ramkat (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 2 – Greenville, SC – The Foundry at Judson Mill (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 3 – Knoxville, TN – The Back Alley at Creekside (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 5 – Richmond, VA – The National (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 6 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 8 – Boston, MA – Royale (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 9 – Portsmouth, NH – Music Hall (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 11 – Asbury Park, NJ – Asbury Lanes (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 12 – Baltimore, MD – Power Plant Live (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 13 – Lansing, MI – Grewal Hall (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 16 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 17 – Green Bay, WI – EPIC Event Center (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 18 – East Moline, IL – The Rust Belt (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 19 – Jefferson City, MO – CRMU Healthcare Amphitheater (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 20 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 24 – Birmingham, AL – Soundstage at WORKPLAY (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 25 – Dothan, AL – The Plant (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

October 27 – Pelham, TN – The Caverns (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

November 2 – Porterville, CA – Eagle Mountain Casino (with Marcy Playground and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack)

January 31, 2025 – February 5, 2025 – Tampa, FL – The 90s Cruise

Photo by Drop D Digital courtesy of Everclear’s official Facebook page

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Meet 2024’s ‘American Idol’ Top 10 Contestants

Up close and personal with the top singers of season 22.

By Fred Bronson

Fred Bronson

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For 22 seasons and running, American Idol has unveiled which contestants have qualified for the competition’s most elite tier, the top 10. This season is no exception, with the names of the final 10 being announced on Monday (April 22) evening’s live broadcast on ABC.

For over a decade now, Billboard has been first in line to sit down with each finalist and conduct their first in-depth interviews. Earlier this week, Billboard sat down with the top 14 performers to talk about their formative years, their Idol experiences to date and how they envision their futures.

On Sunday (April 21), the top 14 performed songs by members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (the Rock Hall’s Class of 2024 was also revealed during the episode by Ryan Seacrest and Rock Hall member Lionel Richie). At the end of the two-hour episode, Jordan Anthony and Nya were eliminated from the competition.

On Monday night, the theme was Billboard No. 1 Hits, a subject first presented in season two and again in season four. The episode saw the end of two more journeys, with contestants Roman Collins and Jayna Elise leaving the show.

Below, Billboard goes deep with season 22’s top 10 contestants as well as the four contestants eliminated over the last few days.

To quote Ryan Seacrest, here they are, in no particular order. (Well, that isn’t strictly true, as we present them alphabetically – first the newly-minted top 10 and then the four singers who were eliminated over the last two days).

Jack Blocker

Born : June 8, 1998 – Dallas, Texas

Musical Influences:  John Prine, Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, OutKast, Tyler the Creator, White Stripes, Green Day

First  Idol  Experience:  “I was four when the show started. My parents watched the first season and said we were all going to watch the next year, so I remember Ruben (Studdard) and Clay (Aiken).”

Jack Blocker did not grow up in a musical family. His earliest memories of music are from the traditional church he attended as a child. “Once a month, someone would come in with an acoustic guitar and they would do stripped-down worship music and I thought it was cool. In high school I was listening to older country artists and that’s when I fell in love with music. At 16 I picked up the guitar and tried to learn their songs. I attended a Christian high school and played in a student-led worship band. That’s when I figured out I could sing and started writing songs in my bedroom for fun.”

Blocker is self-taught on guitar thanks to YouTube. He still hasn’t taken any lessons and never had vocal coaching until he auditioned for American Idol . The first song he wrote was “Finally Home,” which he recorded with the band he had in college, Rightfield. They played gigs while attending the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where Blocker majored in communications. “When bands would come through, we’d message them to see if we could open for them. Then we did some traveling and were able to make half a living playing gigs.”

At this point, Blocker had not decided on making music as a full-time job. “I was considering every career besides being a musician. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had no real perception of what having a career in music would look like. Growing up in Dallas, I didn’t really know anyone who did that.”

In 2022, Blocker became a solo artist. “My wife and I and my bandmate Reed Hoelscher moved to Nashville. We weren’t experiencing that much growth in Dallas and so we tried to push ourselves. It was difficult. In Dallas and Arkansas, we were the only people performing alt-rock music. In Nashville, everyone is doing the same thing and probably a little better than you and they know more people than you. Trying to make an impression was a bit of a culture shock. We were competing with all the other artists around us and we were losing. I realized I needed to write. My wife was really supportive. She felt this was something I was supposed to be doing, so I started making music that I really cared about and doing it on my own.”

Blocker has already learned a valuable lesson from his Idol journey. “I have been encouraged throughout the whole process to be myself as an artist, to find your wheelhouse and go 100% toward that. I haven’t been trying to compete with anybody else on the show, like go head-to-head and out sing this one person. I’ve been getting to sing songs that I love and I’ve just been really encouraged throughout the show that people respond to that authenticity. Luke said, ‘If you’re doing Jack Blocker, you’re doing the right thing.’ That meant the world to me.”

McKenna Faith Breinholt

Born : Aug. 19, 1998 – Mesa, Ariz.

Favorite Alums:   David Archuleta, David Cook, Lauren Spencer-Smith

Musical Influences:   Adele, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift

First  Idol  Experience:  “I watched the season that David Cook and David Archuleta were on. That was the most memorable Idol for me.”

Born in Mesa, Ariz., and raised in nearby Gilbert, McKenna Faith Breinholt’s earliest musical memory is from when she was seven years old, playing songs by ear on her piano. “I would hear music on television and would go to my little keyboard and pick them out. I thought it was awesome that I could play. My parents thought it was really cool and they bought a bigger keyboard. The first song I played on that was ‘Apologize’ by Timbaland and OneRepublic.”

Breinholt confesses, “I took piano lessons to learn theory. I was cheating the whole time. I wasn’t listening to it, and then I got caught. Yeah, I’m not great with piano lessons! I couldn’t sing very well at the time. I wasn’t really a great singer until I picked up the guitar. My guitar teacher required all students to sing, and that’s how I found my voice.”

By the time she was 14, she was performing in talent shows and in church on Sundays, just with piano or guitar. “I never was accompanied by anyone. I’d always play by myself. Then I sang in my high school talent show and that was probably one of the best performances ever for me. People saw that video and asked me to start working with them after that. Rob Gardner, who Breinholt describes as “a crazily talented musician from Arizona,” had her cover Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” and Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).” “He had me take great iconic songs and turn them into orchestra pieces with choir and we went around performing in Arizona every year. One of my videos with him (“Hallelujah”) got over 12 million views on YouTube.

Although Breinholt said during her Idol audition that her family has no musical talent, she corrected herself while talking to Billboard . “They were offended when I said that. They all have great ears. My dad can play a little bit at the piano. My grandpa plays the guitar. Everyone can mess around here and there.”

Asked what the most valuable lesson she has learned on her Idol journey so far, Breinholt says, “To have a good time and cherish every single moment and make friends too. Yes, you have to be in a certain mindset when you’re on stage and when you’re rehearsing, but we’re never going to get this opportunity again. It’s all about the people and the things that we’re doing and being in the moment because it’s going to go away real quick.”

The Arizonan already has a vision for her future. “My ultimate goal is to release a song after the show and it takes off and I’m touring and performing in front of hundreds of thousands. I know it’s going to take a lot of work to get there, but that’s the goal.”

Born : July 31, 2002 – Indio, Calif.

Favorite Alums:  Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, David Archuleta, Adam Lambert, Jordin Sparks

Musical Influences:  Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, My Chemical Romance, Paramore

First  Idol  Experience:  “We always watched the fails. That used to be the greatest part of this show, seeing people absolutely lose their minds in an audition room. I was at my aunt’s house in Idyllwild [Calif.] and I remember looking at Carrie Underwood and telling my mom, ‘I want to do it now.’ And she said, ‘You’re not old enough.’ ‘Well, how freaking old do I have to be?’ I was eight.”

“My mom always sang lullabies to us,” Abi Carter says when asked about her earliest musical memory. “But the first true song I remember is the intro credits song to (Nickelodeon’s 2006 film) Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses . There are no words. It’s so beautiful to me and I wanted to be a ballerina and a singer.”

Carter isn’t the only singer in her family. “My mom got a full scholarship to university. She went on a voice scholarship, but she had kids and that made it impossible for her to continue. All my siblings sing. I was the only one who really loved it and wanted to pursue it and felt a deep connection with music. But we’re always singing around the house.”

As a young girl, Carter says she idolized Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. “I grew up in a really religious family, so we weren’t allowed to listen to all kinds of music, but my mom bought a Carrie Underwood album and it got stuck in our little CD player in our old broken down van and so that was all we could listen to for a really long time. So I love Carrie Underwood. I’m not a country singer, but sometimes I’ll sing something that’s just a little bit country.”

Carter wrote her first song relatively recently. “It’s called ‘Still Breathing.’ I wrote it about a friend of mine who I was very close to growing up. “We would sit in her computer room and talk about the future and about what life was going to be like and how she was going to decorate her apartment when she moved out. When she went away to college, I was so excited for her because she was so excited to start her life and she ended up getting into drugs and it just absolutely changed who she was chemically. I wrote that song about her not being able to respond anymore. I don’t even know if she is still alive. I didn’t know if she was still breathing. I wrote that in late 2020/early 2021.”

Reflecting on lessons learned so far from being on American Idol , Carter explains, “I grew up being home schooled. When I entered high school, I went for less than a semester and had to leave to help my family. And I just assumed that coming to Los Angeles to audition that everybody here was going to be fake. I had a mindset of what Hollywood was like and what the music business was like and thought I was going to be around gorgeous people who are gorgeous because of the plastic surgery and would treat me like I was less than. But what I’ve learned is that friends are so much closer than you think and all you have to do is get out to make them. I didn’t grow up with a lot of friends. I only had one at a time. Any prejudice I had has been sucked out of me because I’m surrounded by many people who are so different and yet we’re all the same. There’s something that you can relate to in everybody. I’ve learned that the world is so much bigger but so much more connected than we think.”

As for her future, Carter says, “I want to be an artist. I’ve never felt so passionately about something. I went to school and got a psychology degree because I figured if I can’t express my emotions through something artistically, maybe I can just help other people express their emotions. I was going to be a family therapist.” But then she was asked to audition for American Idol , and she thought, “I’ve never done something for myself. I had to start working young and leave high school to help my family. When this opportunity came along, I thought, ‘If I get a master’s in psychology and have a stable job, I’ll never have this opportunity to pursue what I love because I’ll have so much more on my plate then.’ I want to perform. I want people to be able to relate to my songs the way that we relate to Taylor Swift songs. I used to be scared about stage presence, like I don’t know what to do with my arms. I’m not a dancer. When you think about a home-schooled kid, I’m about as awkward as they come. But I’ve never felt so energetic before. It’s so much fun.”

Julia Gagnon

Born : March 29, 2002 – Guatemala City, Guatemala

Favorite Alums:  Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert, Wé Ani

Musical Influences:  Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo

First  Idol  Experience:  Always aware of it, her parents didn’t watch TV, so she didn’t see a complete season until last year, when she and her now-fiancé watched all of the episodes of season 21 on Hulu to prepare for a local Idol -type competition.

Julia Gagnon was born in Guatemala and after being adopted, was raised in Cumberland, Maine. There was a grand piano in the house and Gagnon remembers banging on the keys as a two-year-old until her parents bought her a toy piano. While she doesn’t recall, her mother assures her that as a very young child, she would sing around the house and in pre-school. That stopped until middle school, when Gagnon saw two musicals on Broadway – Wicked and The Phantom of the Opera . “ Phantom was my favorite and I thought, ‘I really want to do that. It would be amazing.’ I entered a talent show and sang ‘Popular’ from Wicked . My chorus teacher Nora Krainis heard me sing and said, ‘I’m not going to let you avoid this anymore. You need to share this with the world and I’m going to help you.’ She was a very strict woman and I replied, ‘Alright. I’ll do what you say.’ She gave me some solos in our chorus concerts and then I was in some of our high school musicals, like Beauty and the Beast , Sister Act and The Addams Family .” I only sang in school. Competitions made me nervous and I didn’t like the idea of auditioning.”

Like the rest of the top 10, Gagnon’s Idol journey began months before season 22 started airing on ABC. From then until today, what is the most important thing she has learned? “It may sound cheesy, but to be yourself. It’s easier said than done. For a long time during this competition, I was trying to be a heightened version of myself, singing hard-hitting soul songs every time. But then I realized that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you always need to. You can hold back. You can let loose. You can have intimate moments and diva moments and it can all be you. You could be vulnerable. You could be soft. You can change your tone. You can tell a story and that is really important. The last couple of rounds, I was struggling with who I was.”

Gagnon’s biggest surprise during her Idol run so far is the competition itself. “We’re such a close-knit family, being together for so long and learning from each other. It doesn’t feel like a competition anymore. It’s such a diverse group that I didn’t expect it to be so familial and supportive.” Support is nothing new to Gagnon. “My parents supported my music even before I knew I wanted to do it. My mom put me in piano lessons and I hated it. She had me play trombone and I hated it. But she’s always been pushing me to be artistic and creative. I think my dad just wants me to be me and said he wasn’t really pushing me in any direction but the second I said, ‘Music is very important to me,’ he’s been unwaveringly supportive and in such a dad way too. He cheers on the sidelines like it’s sports. It’s not a theater cheer. It’s like stand up and ‘Let’s go!’ But I love that. They’re both very excited for me.”

Looking ahead, Gagon says, “If I could design my future, I would incorporate the things that are important to me as much as I can into a music career. So still staying close to family and still writing songs that are close to my heart. That would be the dream, to have everything that I need to support me and having enough love to share and give out my music and performance and art.”

Triston Harper

Born : June 17, 2008 – Mobile, Ala.

Favorite Alums: Colin Stough, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chayce Beckham

Musical Influences: Johnny Cash, Charles Johnson

First Idol Experience: “I’ve always watched since I was a little boy. My favorite thing was the funny auditions where people would walk in and they would sing and we would just die and then someone would walk in and just blow your mind.”

Raised in McIntosh, Ala., Triston Harper found music before he was even born. “My mama sang nursery rhymes to me when I was in the womb. Later, she taught me how to play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ on the piano.”

When he was six, Harper sang in church with his grandaddy. “It was homecoming and there was a butt load of people there and they requested for me to sing. So he got up there with me and we sang and everybody loved it. I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.” Harper continued to sing in school. “They always put me out front. I sang. I preached. When we moved to Conway in Arkansas, they put me in choir to learn how to read music. After that, I forgot everything, and I’ve been unable to read music ever since. So I just listen and I’ll grab my guitar and pick it up.” Harper wrote his first song when he was seven. “It’s called ‘I’m Yours, You’re Mine.’ It is God talking to me. I still sing it.”

Even though he has watched American Idol all of his life, Harper says he didn’t have the courage to audition until last year. “My grandaddy said, ‘One day, boy, it might be you.’ I never thought it would happen. An ad [for auditions] kept popping up and I kept swiping it away. The Lord spoke to me and said, ‘If you take a step toward me, I’ll take two toward you.’ So I signed up with all my information and I’m here.”

Only 15, Harper has already learned valuable lessons during his time on Idol . “When your mentors and your vocal coach tell you to do something, they’ve got your best interests and they want to see you progress far in this competition. So be yourself and make the right song choices and put your faith in yourself.”

One of Harper’s mentors this season was Jelly Roll, who said the youngster had the soul of a 75-year-old. “I get that a lot,” Harper tells Billboard . “I try to give people a lot of advice and they say I’m young but they take it and go a long way with it. I’ve been through a lot and I know what to do in situations and I give people hope and courage so they don’t turn to drugs or alcohol. My teachers are surprised because I’ve taught them a lot about decisions they’ve made that weren’t the best. They say, ‘I should have listened to Triston.’”

The teenager admits it was surreal standing in front of Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. “The first time I did, I was shocked. The second time I was like, ‘Okay.’ The third time I was getting used to them and now I look at them as aunts and uncles. They’re family now.”

Harper has taken in their advice. “Katy Perry told me about my pronunciation, that she wants to hear what I’m saying and I’ve tried my best in this competition to pronounce my words more than when they first met me. Lionel Richie told me to be me, to keep that old Alabama soul. Luke Bryan smiled at me and said I’m doing what I’m supposed to. When you hear that from people you look up to, it means the world.”

Asked what he wants his future to look like, it was clear he has given the subject a lot of thought. “I’ve got about 60 some acres, living in a nice home. We have four kids and I’ve been married to my wife about 20 some years and last Saturday I performed at an arena with people singing along with my songs.”

Born : May 22, 2003 – Ogden, Utah

Favorite Alum:  Carrie Underwood

Musical Influences:  Katy Perry, Adele, Carrie Underwood

First  Idol  Experience:  “I watched Carrie Underwood. She was a small-town girl living her small-town life and then her life changed overnight, and I related to her.”

Kaibrienne grew up an hour away from her birthplace, in Henefer, Utah. She describes it as a “super-small town.” She had two gateways to music. “I listened on YouTube, and I listened to my older sister sing. She would jam out in our car to Katy Perry hits like ‘California Gurls,’ ‘Teenage Dream’ and ‘Last Friday Night.’” So what was it like when Kaibrienne first met Katy? “I was freaking out. I could never have imagined that I would have the opportunity to meet her. I haven’t told her yet about my sister.”

Kaibrienne says her parents were not musical, but her sisters had leads and other parts in their high school musicals. “I thought that I would want to do that. I loved watching them in  Les Misérables ,  Hairspray  and  The Music Man .”

In school, Kaibrienne was active in sports and cheerleading. “Then I was listening to a girl on YouTube sing ‘Hallelujah’ and I told my family I wanted to sing it at a school talent show. None of them knew I had been singing alone in my room so I sang it for them and they said I should definitely do that. My focus at the time was on tumbling but after that I loved singing.”

At the talent show, one of Kaibrienne’s teachers leaned over to her father and said, “She has a God-given gift. She’s going to do big things.”

“There weren’t a lot of opportunities, but my dad tried to find places where I could sing. I struggled with performance anxiety where my hands and feet and face would go numb. My throat would go dry. And so I never wanted to perform. I practiced and I hated it. I thought I sounded so much better than what I was able to give. Things fell apart with cheerleading and tumbling so I was trying to find my place in the world. I tried out for high school musicals and I was in  Shrek ,  Into the Woods  and  High School Musical .

How did Kaibrienne overcome her anxiety? “My dad posted videos of me singing in the car on TikTok. They started going viral. He told me, ‘Look at all these people who believe in you.’ But I still wouldn’t sing outside of the car. Over the summer I was working in sales, knocking on people’s doors. I’m in the middle of Florida and a pastor opened his door. He didn’t know anything about me. But he said, ‘This isn’t what you were sent here to do. I feel like you have a dream that you are running from.’ I told him he was exactly right. He said, “God wouldn’t have given you this gift if there wasn’t a way to work through it. If you take this seriously, big things are going to happen for you in the next year.’”

That was the last door Kaibrienne knocked on. “The second I got home I started singing alone again. I studied guitar and began writing songs and then  Idol  reached out to me and everything fell into place.” So it’s no surprise what Kaibrienne has learned from her  Idol  journey to date. “I’ve learned to love myself in a lot of ways. Being on the show has instilled a lot of confidence in me that I didn’t have before. Even during my audition, I felt insecure. I’ve learned I’m here because I sound like me, not because I sound like anyone else. I’m here because I’m me and not anybody else and I feel like each round, I’ve grown more and more. I’ve worked through so much of the performance anxiety that I never thought I’d be able to work through.”

And what lies ahead? “I’m going to do this forever. I want to write music forever. I’ve always wanted to heal people through music the way that it’s healed me, and so that’s my goal.”

Born : June 14, 2000 – Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Favorite Alums:  Chris Daughtry, James Durbin

Musical Influences:  Bon Jovi, Journey, Whitesnake, Queen, Ed Sheeran

First  Idol  Experience : “When Chris Daughtry got voted off, I wrote a handwritten letter to  American Idol  and said, ‘You made a mistake. This guy’s a star.’”

“I have older parents and they looked in the Yellow Pages to find a piano teacher. My dad said, ‘I want you to teach my son. He’s three years old. And the teacher said, ‘We normally like them to read English before they read music.’ My dad told him, ‘He reads, let’s get him in. We’ve got to start him early.’ So I went to his studio and my little legs didn’t touch the floor. I was swinging off the piano bench and I learned how to read music along with English. When I was 10, my parents asked if I actually liked taking lessons. I said, ‘I’ve been doing it forever, so I might as well keep doing it. It’s a part of my identity at this point.’”

Kayko says he was always a music kid. “I did classical piano competitions for a long time and then I always wanted to change the song and not play what’s on the page, so I did jazz. And I thought, ‘This really isn’t really my vibe. I’m a rocker. I would never do a singing competition, not even  American Idol . I would never try out for that.’ And then I did theater.”  

After appearing in musicals like  Side Show ,  In the Heights ,  Ghost ,  Cabaret  and  9 to 5 , Kayko turned to YouTube and  Billboard  to see what music was popular and was inspired to record cover songs. “I was definitely a YouTube kid and that’s how I learned how to produce my own music.”

Kayko attended Berklee College of Music for three semesters, until he realized he didn’t want go to school. “I quit and moved to Nashville. I needed to write and produce my own songs. I needed to book live shows. I had no mentorship or insight, just a dream of being an artist and putting out music.”

Kayko’s audition for  Idol  was unlike most other tryouts but he assures  Billboard  that what was shown on television was 100% true. “I don’t know if the world will ever believe that. One of my very good friends from college, Abby Blake, got a call to do  American Idol  and they wanted her to prepare two songs but said the accompanist would only play one. She said, ‘I feel more comfortable with you in the room.’”

Kayko agreed to go with her. They woke up at 4 a.m. for the Nashville audition and sat in a room all day without ever seeing the judges. The producers asked Blake to come back the next day and Kayko said he would return with her.

“Abby’s voice was shot and she wasn’t feeling well that day and I was thinking I have to break the ice for her, so I was probably talking way more than any accompanist has ever done before. Abby sang her song and got a yes. Katy Perry looks at me and says, ‘There’s something about you. You look like an artist.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not doing this.’ Abby said I should sing for these three music legends. I played an original song and they look at each other and tell me I’m going to Hollywood. What?!”

But Kayko had a huge conflict. “I booked a job in New York playing guitar for a new off-Broadway musical,  Hard Road to Heaven , and I had this in place for a year. The guy who got me the gig put his neck on the line for me and now I have to call him and say, ‘I don’t know what to do. Katy Perry just told me that I have a thing and I need to go to Hollywood Week and I could get cut and get no airtime and lose this thing, or it could be great.’ He said, “I would never hold you back from doing something like that.’ So I spent a week and a half in New York and flew directly to L.A. for Hollywood Week. The only reason I went was for that chance for airtime and the potential viral moment and for my friend Abby. She got cut in Hollywood and I’m still here.”

It could have been an awkward situation, but it wasn’t. “Abby and I are real friends and we’re both in the music industry and know that it’s not personal. I didn’t take her spot. My dad always said, ‘If Simon Cowell walked into the bar and you’re playing a lousy gig, are you going to blow him away?’ And it actually happened with Katy Perry.”

Mia Matthews

Born : Dec. 7, 2004 – Gadsden, Ala.

Favorite Alums:  Daniel Seavey, Clark Beckham, Nick Fradiani, Laci Kaye Booth

Musical Influences : Dolly Parton, Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves

First  Idol  Experience:  “I grew up watching the show. My older sister Sadie loved it. I had an  American Idol  karaoke machine. I would stand on my mini trampoline like a stage and then sing with my  American Idol  microphone.”

Born in Gadsden, Ala., Mia Matthews grew up in a very musical family 45 minutes down the road. “My dad was a heavy metal rock star, playing electric guitar. I’m told he toured with Whitesnake. My mom sang with Ernest Tubb and Barbara Mandrell. When I was three, my dad passed away and music was our therapy. It’s how we coped. My mom taught vocal lessons at our house. There’s never been a point in my life where I wasn’t surrounded by music.”

The middle child of seven, Matthews remembers taking road trips with her mother and siblings. “There’s not much to do in Alabama so we would drive around. Mama would play a game with us to see if we could find harmony. It started with, ‘I’m going to hit this note. See where you land.’ And then we sang ‘Jesus Loves Me.’”

Matthews sang in elementary school, but her mother pulled her out of public school and home schooled her children. “Singing was our passion and we would sing for anyone and everyone. My mom led worship at church – she was the choir director. One day when I was 11, we were shopping at Walmart and we sang the National Anthem for the cashier because she was having a bad day. A woman behind us recorded it and posted it on Facebook and it went viral.”

The family booked small shows in Centre, Ala., and performed at football games and festivals. “We moved our way up to Nashville and did shows on Broadway at Ole Red. I was 15 and my little sister was 13.”

Matthews never believed it would be possible to appear on  American Idol . “This past summer I felt stagnant. I had just graduated from high school. I wanted to be a singer but how do I do that? What was the next step? I was searching for an opportunity but was it time to open the door to  Idol ? Then I received a message asking if I wanted to audition and somehow I am here now.”

Mia asked her sister Jacy if she also wanted to audition. “She hopped on some of our virtual auditions and they loved her, too. So we both went to Nashville to audition for Katy, Luke and Lionel. We both got golden tickets and made it to Hollywood. I had been singing with my mom and sister in a trio for years. So we were very comfortable singing with each other but this was a brand-new experience. We were together but we were separate. It was really comforting to have her there because she is my best friend.”

Jacy was cut during Hollywood Week, leaving Mia to compete on her own. “It hurt me, but she took it like a champ. She’s been so supportive. I’m blessed to have such a good relationship with her.”

Will Moseley

Born : July 10, 2000 – Douglas, Georgia

Favorite Alums: Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson

Musical Influences:  Bob Seger, Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs, Blackberry Smoke

First  Idol  Experience:  “In an interview I said I remember the season that Adam Lambert won, and they all looked at me and said, ‘He didn’t win.’ I was a kid, but I remember watching it.”

Growing up in Hazlehurst, Ga., Will Moseley always loved music. “My uncle drove a big semi-truck, and I would go on the road with him. He had a Bob Seger  Greatest Hits  CD and my mom listened to Shania Twain. There was a Shania CD in her car. We played the fire out of that thing. My dad was an earlier Kid Rock fan, so then we covered that genre and then I loved classic country music. That’s just part of the culture where I’m from. Waylon and Willie, George, Merle, Conway, all of that. As a kid, I remember we would go camping and every Friday night at 9 o’clock there was a local radio station that would play Johnny Paycheck’s ‘Old Violin.’ And so now if I’m playing a show, I’ll take an acoustic break in the middle of a full band show and it’s just me and an acoustic guitar playing ‘Old Violin.’”

Music became an important part of Moseley’s life when he was 15. “You know how parents are when Christmas comes around. ‘What do you want for Christmas?’ I told my mom I wanted a guitar. I thought it would be cool to learn how to play. She looked at me and said, ‘Are you going to learn how to play? I’m not buying something else to put in a closet.’ I told her, ‘I’ll give it a shot.’ She bought the guitar and I picked it up and my fingers hurt. My brain didn’t work with my hand. I didn’t even think they were connected to the same body. And after two days it went in the closet. It was a disappointment to my mom at the time, but a few years later I was in college and I took my guitar to school with me.”

When he ended up with a dorm room to himself for a few months, he started playing around with the guitar again. “I decided to teach myself. After Christmas break I didn’t have a TV in my room so all of my free time went into learning how to play guitar.”

Moseley worked at a printing company during the COVID years, when a lot of people were laid off.  “They never brought me back and I had a lot of time on my hands so I played guitar and learned more songs and developed my singing. I found little places that would pay me a couple hundred bucks here and there to play. That’s how I paid my way through college.”

Moseley graduated from Georgia Southern in May 2023 with a degree in biology. He had enough gigs lined up to pay his bills for a few months. “If I didn’t give being a full-time musician a shot I would regret it. So I gave myself a year and said if it wasn’t working by then, I’d get a real job. Eleven months later I’m working with Gene Simmons and Meghan Trainor. If you told me that a year ago, I would have called you a liar.”

Moseley says he has learned a lot during his time on  Idol , especially from mentors Jelly Roll and Gene Simmons. “They both said the same thing: ‘You’re in the right lane. You just have to own it. You’re here for a reason and you have the voice to do this for the rest of your life.’ Of course, there’s going to be turns and hills and ups and downs and all that, but the biggest thing I’ve learned so far truthfully has probably been humbleness and that connections will take you further than anything else in the music business.”

Moseley has a clear eye on the road ahead. “All I want to do is get on a bus and drive around the country and play music for a living. If I play music until the day I die, I’ll die happy.” 

Emmy Russell

Born : Jan. 10, 1999 – Nashville, Tenn.

Favorite Alums:  Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson

Musical Influences:  Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus

First  Idol  Experience:  Watching on her bed, singing along. “I loved the funny auditions.”

“I was supposed to be born on March 12,” says Emmy Russell. “I was a preemie born on Jan. 10, my meemaw and grandpa’s anniversary.” (Meemaw being the legendary Loretta Lynn). “I was in an incubator for 30 days because of an undeveloped lung. Ironically, I sing.”

As soon as Russell was out of the incubator, she was on the road with her mother, who managed Lynn. “Meemaw took me on stage and showed me to everyone, saying, ‘This is Emmy Rose.’”

That was one introduction to music. “My first memory of music was when I was two, seeing a piano player. I was singing my ABCs and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” When I was four, I wrote stories and then I wrote my first song for a second-grade talent show. It was called ‘Try Again,’ about not giving up.”

Russell continued to write songs at this early age, including “Identity.” “Which is ironic,” she says, “because that’s been my war – what is my identity? In school, all the girls would be chasing boys and I was writing songs. I was a bit overweight, wearing big T-shirts and being quiet. I was bullied a lot. I started playing guitar and put my stories into songs.”

Russell’s grandmother had a huge influence on her. “She had this charm about her. She wrote the truth. It must be embarrassing writing a song about your husband cheating on you all the time, but she did. People would ask her about that and she would say, ‘I still love him.’ Her gutsiness is the thing I’ve taken the most from her, but I didn’t realize that until recently. She made you feel like she was so likeable. She would sing ‘Fist City’ but it was never hateful. She smiled whenever she sang it.”

In middle school, Russell was in the chorus. During her high school years, she continued to be on the road with her meemaw. “I opened up for her.” That actually started when Russell was in fourth grade. “She’d call me up and I’d sing two songs. I had an original and then one everyone knew. She’d tell me, ‘People want to hear a song they know. Until you have a song that’s your original one, people want to hear a song that they know so they can sing with you.’” During those high school years, Russell would open with five or six songs. “When I was 15, she passed me down her guitar. It started to feel like we were business partners and that created a lot of pressure. I quit when I was 18.”

Asked about lessons learned while on Idol , Russell says, “Trust your spirit. For some people, it’s God. Just trusting that little voice inside. Being true to yourself is the biggest lesson I’m learning right now. Because when I’m not, my voice gets really pitchy. I get more nervous when I’m not myself.”

Looking ahead, Russell says she wants to travel to different countries. “I love kids. Music is my passion, but I want to use that to help other people. If you’re not, then what’s the point?”

Jordan Anthony (Eliminated)

Born : Dec. 16, 2004 – Melbourne, Australia

Favorite Alums:  Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Lauren Spencer-Smith, Iam Tongi, Guy Sebastian ( Australian Idol )

Musical Influences:  Ed Sheeran, Adele, Sam Smith, Bruno Mars

First Idol Experience:  “When I was younger, I used to watch the compilation videos like ‘The Best of American Idol’ or ‘Craziest American Idol Auditions.’ I loved them as a kid. I thought that could be me one day.”

Jordan Anthony has heard this story from his mother but finds it hard to believe: “When I was one and a half I’d be in my parents’ car and when this certain song came on the radio, I would sing along and hit this one note pitch-perfectly every time. That is the moment my parents realized I might be a singer.”

Anthony grew up around music. “My dad was a vocal coach. My parents met doing musical theater, so I’ve always been in that world.” When he was five, his parents put him into musical theater shows. “I realized a couple years later that wasn’t really the thing for me.” At seven, he wrote his first song, “Wait,” about being bullied at school. “I had some tough times at school. I’d come home from classes and sit down at the piano. I was never good at talking about my feelings, so for me, music was an outlet because I could express those things.”

When he was 10, his family moved from Melbourne to Perth. “I busked on the streets there. My mom was my roadie. There’s nothing scarier than standing in a random spot, singing to people walking by. But it helped me develop my confidence and my stage presence. I sang for money and saved up until I had enough to record my first album, One Word , when I was 12.”

Anthony still lives in Perth, so he had a long journey to come to America to audition before the judges on American Idol . But this is not the first time he has performed for millions of viewers. When he was 14, he represented Australia at the 2019 edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest , performing a song he co-wrote, “We Will Rise.” “I looked very different back then,” he tells Billboard . “It was unbelievable to perform on a world stage in an arena full of people with Australian flags flying everywhere. It was incredible and I met incredible people, other young artists like myself from all around the world and I made friends everywhere. It was such an honor to be able to do that.”

Although his Idol journey came to an end on Sunday (April 21), he says he learned a lot during his time on the show. “One skill that I’ve learned is to control my energy and my emotions and my nerves. There are a lot of ups and downs. One minute we’re going onstage. It’s high energy and then you might be sitting around for a few hours and then you’ve got to be ready for showtime again. I’ve been lucky to always have a good head on my shoulders and be able to manage my emotions, but in the pressure cooker environment, it gets tough sometimes.”

Helping Anthony along the way was sage advice from Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. “They’ve mentioned that even when I was singing a cover, they felt my artistry through the performance. That meant so much because I always want people to see who I am through the emotions I’m conveying and the song I’m singing.”

Roman Collins (Eliminated)

Born : Sept. 18, 1999 – Natchitoches, La.

Favorite Alums:  Haley Reinhart, Phillip Phillips, Jessica Sanchez, Joshua Ledet, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Tori Kelly, Kelly Clarkson

Musical Influences:  The Clark Sisters, Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin, Andre Crouch, Timothy Wright, John Legend, Blossom Dearie, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker

First  Idol  Experience:  “I was a bit young when Kelly Clarkson won. Then I saw Ruben Studdard and Fantasia.”

Roman Collins is a worship leader who grew up in Coushatta, La. “Most people say I started in church,” he tells Billboard . “I’m still in church, where I am also a choir director. I’m told that when I was three years old sitting in my mother’s lap, I got up, grabbed a mic and sang Vicki Yohe’s ‘Because Of Who You Are’ in front of everyone in church.” When he was a little older, Collins was always asking his teachers if he could sing in class. “How annoying is that?” he laughs. “I would hate to be a classmate of mine. “I have to study for this test and Roman wants to sing. Can we not do that?”

Collins was only aware of religious music until the third grade. “My uncle is a great musician and he would say this artist was doing R&B and I thought R&B was a group. I didn’t realize there were other genres besides gospel. Then I found out about Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston. Eventually I heard Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse, Blossom Dearie and B.B. King.”

Moving to Los Angeles in 2007, Collins went to a small high school that didn’t have music classes until he graduated. “Thanks a lot!” he exclaims. “When I was 16 I started going to open mics at places like Tha Juice Joint in Hollywood and the Pocket in Culver City. I would watch people from all different walks of life share their gift. It was the best thing ever. I would sing Musiq Soulchild, Marvin Gaye, John Legend and Gnarls Barkley. That opened me up to more R&B and awakened my creative bones.” Then Collins started to get paying gigs. “In December 2018 I sang behind Childish Gambino at the Forum [in Inglewood, Calif.].”

Auditioning for American Idol was always in the back of his mind, he says. “But I did not pursue it. When I was 14 there was a woman visiting our family’s church. She told me, ‘Young man, I want you to write American Idol and put it on your door and look at it every day.’ I never did it, but I never forgot her prophesizing that to me.” But that door opened on a Wednesday in November 2023 when Collins was asked to submit a couple of his videos to the show. “By the following Tuesday I was in front of Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. That changed my life forever.”

The main lesson Collins has learned since starting that journey is that “rest is vital,” he says. “I want to do this for the rest of my life and it is important to rest when you can. I have also learned that I have a platform that God has allowed and to use it for the better. I’ve changed by being more consistent vocally, doing what I have to do to get my voice ready. I’m eating better but I miss my ginger ale.” And what lies ahead? “Changing the world through love,” he answers without hesitation. “Changing the world through music. People ask me why I am so passionate. Because I had a second chance at life. When I was three, I was pronounced dead. I was in a coma for two weeks. The doctor said there was a 97% chance I was going to die. If I did come out of the coma, I would be brain dead for the rest of my life. So when you see me jumping, when you hear my laugh, I’m laughing at fear. I’m alive. I’m doing what I love. Some people are impacted through my gift. We have a saying in church, ‘The joy that I have, the world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away.’ I want to import the same joy that He has given me.”

Jayna Elise (Eliminated)

Born : Sept. 26, 2001 – Washington, D.C.

Favorite Alums:  Michael J. Woodard, Catie Turner, Grace Kinstler

Musical Influences:  Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Journey, Queen, Mötley Crüe

First  Idol  Experience:  She started watching season 3, the year Fantasia won.

“My grandparents had a rule: No TV until 4 o’clock in the afternoon. You could either play outside or listen to the oldies on the music channel they listened to. That’s what I grew up on. My whole family sings and some of my earliest memories are singing with my grandma at the piano. She taught me how to play the piano. When she and my grandfather were 19, they were in a band. They went to an audition in New York and she got scared and didn’t show up. Then she gave birth to my mom. My mom also sings, but never professionally.”

Elise was six years old when she wrote her first song. “I was in the back seat of the car and was mad because I was told to do something and I didn’t want to do it. That was kind of the vibe of the song: ‘I’m going solo, solo, solo.’ Sometimes it will pop into my head and I think I should do something with it.”

When Elise went to live with her mother, she started listening to music on YouTube. “I posted some covers. The first video that went viral was ‘Skyfall,’ the Adele song. It got 40,000 views in one month. My most-viewed video is me singing the gospel song ‘Take Me to the King.’ I was 11 and it has eight million views now.” That led to more performances at different churches and that same year, Elise joined the children’s group Kidz Bop. “We covered ‘All About That Bass’ and Meghan Trainor sent us a video message saying she couldn’t believe we were covering her song. And now I got to meet her because she is our mentor for Billboard ’s No. 1 Hits.”

After touring with Kidz Bop, Elise attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in the District of Columbia. “That’s where I became classically trained,” she says. “I sang opera there but I also learned how to actually sing. Before I was just going through the motions but my teacher Daphne Dunston Wharton taught me how to breathe correctly.”

Two years ago, Elise wanted to rebrand herself from the little girl singing with Kidz Bop. Having just moved to Los Angeles, she thought about auditioning for American Idol . She tried out for season 21 last year and went as far as the Showstoppers round during Hollywood Week.

“I definitely had my reservations about auditioning again. I saw people who came back last year and they didn’t make it as far as they had before. It is a risk coming back. But I knew that I had grown and that I had a better handle on everything.”

Elise says her most outstanding moment with the judges this season happened during Final Judgment, when the field was narrowed down to a top 24. “Hearing Lionel say you’re not a background singer anymore and that I made it into the top 24 was my goal. I was talking to another one of the contestants and she said, ‘After you get to where you thought you were going to make it, everything else is a gift.’ That put things in perspective for me, because getting to this point is an opportunity I’m really grateful for.”

Nya (Eliminated)

Born : Nov. 10, 1995 – Fort Meyers, Fla.

Favorite Alums:  Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood

Musical Influences:  Whitney Houston, Victoria Monét

First  Idol  Experience:  Watched season one and decided she wanted to be on the show.

“Every Sunday when I would hear [the music of] Sade I knew it was our cleaning day. Mom and I would go to the laundromat. Throughout the day we’d listen to Barry White and African music. That’s my earliest memory of loving music and wanting to dance around and it made the chores seem like fun.”

It may be difficult to believe now but Nya grew up in a family that didn’t want her to become a professional musician. “My family would not pay for any type of music lessons because in my culture in Kenya, it is considered a hobby. It’s not really a life choice or a life career. I grew up in America, but I lived a very strict Kenyan lifestyle. At school, I was in the marching band. I was in band. I taught myself how to play instruments. I started off with clarinet. Went to saxophone, piano, guitar, and did a whole bunch of band-related instruments as well like trumpet. Vocally, if you’re playing an instrument, you can learn so much. So I knew if I learned these instruments that it would only help my voice even more.

“I was going to school to become a lawyer. I was on the student court. I was a very smart kid and didn’t really have to be in school to get good grades and manipulated the system in that way. I started doing school plays. I got a scholarship through playing the clarinet. They wanted me to come and then once I got there, they heard me sing and said, ‘You’re not playing clarinet. You’re going to sing.’ That was the first moment that I thought, ‘I can sing and this is what I want to do.

“At college, I was in an a cappella group, Voices Of Lee, as in Lee University. I lost my voice, singing with a group of people and having to blend, learn other people’s voices and make a group sound good. It was a toxic environment.”

Four years later, Nya moved to New York. In school and summer camp she had been in  Ragtime  and  Shrek . Now she was going to try her hand at Broadway. First, she went home and told her mother that she wanted to pursue a career in music. “She wasn’t having it. She came here from Africa with nothing and wanted the best life for me. In her head, that meant going to school to become a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer. I did not want to be a singing lawyer.”

Nya moved to New York City with nothing and within three years, she was in her first Broadway show,  Caroline, or Change . She had the lead in an off-Broadway show,  Cleopatra , and then played Nina Simone in an Israeli production of  Soul Doctor  and Martha Reeves in a touring production of  Motown: The Musical . In  Beautiful , the Carole King musical, she portrayed Little Eva and sang “The Loco-Motion.” Most recently she was in the off-Broadway hit  Titanique .

Post- Idol , Nya intends to continue with her Broadway career. “Oh yes. I don’t have a Tony yet, so they’ve got to have me back. One of the shows I really want to do is  Hamilton . I want to write my own musicals. I want to do TV, film, all of the above. Have my own beauty line.”

Nya’s father passed away in Georgia when she was 16, and when she sang “Georgia on My Mind” on  Idol , she dedicated it to him. And her relationship with her mother now? “It’s good. She just really wanted me to succeed and I think whatever that would have been, she would have been happy with. Now that I’m an adult, I feel like she is way more open and really proud of me. To hear her say those words knocks me for a loop.”

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Georgia native Will Moseley advances to 'American Idol' Top 10

"American Idol" Season 22  is heating up, and so is the judges' criticism as the competition comes down to the Top 10, which includes country singer and Georgia native Will Moseley.

As the  12 remaining contestants  fought to stay in the competition Monday night,  Katy Perry ,  Luke Bryan  and  Lionel Richie  leveled the "Idol" hopefuls, including one of the season's frontrunners, with feedback less glowing than usual. Perhaps this was all part of an effort to challenge the young singers to "not let off the gas yet," as Bryan said.

Pressure creates diamonds, right?

Mentor  Meghan Trainor  helped a dozen finalists hone their Billboard #1 hits performances that would hopefully convince viewers they deserve to be in the Top 10. Moseley performed "Starting Over" by Chris Stapleton.

Here's what happened in Episode 13 during the Top 12 performances – and who was sent home.

Watch Will Moseley perform 'Starting Over' by Chris Stapleton

Abi carter receives her first negative feedback for 'all too well'.

For Abi Carter, it seemed as if she'd set the bar too high for herself this season.

The platinum ticket recipient –  whom Bryan said  "may be the winner of 'American Idol'" upon hearing her cover of Billie Eilish's " What Was I Made For?"  during auditions – took to the piano (again) with a bold Taylor Swift cover: "All Too Well" (Abi's Version).

The 21-year-old singer, appropriately wearing a red dress in honor of Swift's "Red" album, didn't need the whole 10-minute version of the song to impress. She brought her signature "angelic" (Katy Perry's word) voice, and her singing soared above the melody as she emotionally belted out Swift's lyrics about a past relationship that went south.

But it wasn't quite enough for the judges.

Bryan looked around and noted he felt like they'd never left yesterday's taping. He was experiencing déjà vu seeing Abi in a long dress at the piano again after Sunday's performance of Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."

"Last night was one of your most shining moments," he said, adding that he felt it wasn't as strong as the previous night. "Don't get too comfortable being at the piano," he warned, telling Abi to "start working the room."

Richie's feedback was also less glowing than usual, and he said he was ready to get a "double boo" after Bryan's criticism. On the other hand, Perry encouraged Abi to "keep playing that ace" and "just give us angelic every time."

Roman Collins gets a hug from Katy Perry for his 'Roar' cover

Roman Collins was the latest brave soul this season who dared to sing a Perry song in front of the pop star. It seemed to pay off though.

The 24-year-old worship leader, who has sailed through the season with his onstage charisma and vocal range that could blow the roof of a venue, showed a different side to himself by starting at the piano. He gave the 2013 pop single a unique jazz club-like remix and kept things dialed back until he let loose taking the mic out to the catwalk and giving the song his signature church choir treatment.

As he wrapped the performance behind the judges' desk, Perry offered Roman a handshake for doing her song justice. He instead wrapped her in for a hug.

"You have never failed to take it over the top," Richie said. "Your roaring was amazing."

Perry revealed that the fellow Southern Californian is a favorite of her parents. "They text me about you," she told Roman. "They're praying for you, too."

Kayko breaks out of his shell, earns a group hug from the judges

Sam "Kayko" Kelly-Cohen, the king of the singer/songwriter performances from behind a piano or guitar, stunned the judges with a huge rock rendition of Gotye's 2011 earworm "Somebody That I Used to Know."

He brought the dramatics, from his eyeliner to his bouncing and skipping around stage as if he were Jared Leto.

Kayko had the judges on his feet early on in his performance, and the trio didn't hesitate to rush forward and engulf him in a bear hug as he sang his final notes.

"Wow, wow, wow!" was all Richie could say. Impressive for a guy  who was an "accident,"  an accompanist who wasn't intending to audition himself.

Who was eliminated from 'American Idol'?

Despite their dazzling performances, Roman Collins and Jayna Elise (who weaved magic with her rendition of Rihanna's "Diamonds") were sent home Monday night.

• Mckenna Breinholt
• Will Moseley
• Sam "Kayko" Kelly-Cohen
• Kaibrienne "KB" Richins
• Mia Matthews
• Jack Blocker
• Emmy Russell
• Triston Harper
• Julia Gagnon

‘American Idol’ Season 22, Rock Hall legends: How to watch episode 12 as new class of inductees is announced online

• Updated: Apr. 21, 2024, 3:57 p.m. |
• Published: Apr. 21, 2024, 3:57 p.m.

• Mike Rose, cleveland.com

“ American Idol ” Season 22 continues with episode 12 airing Sunday night, April 21. The show starts at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC and will see the Top 14 perform songs from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

You can watch “American Idol” Season 22 episodes live for free on FuboTV or DirecTV Stream , both of which offer free trials to new subscribers. Tonight’s show is extra special as the newest Rock Hall Class of 2024 will be announced live during the show.

Rock Hall inductee Gene Simmons of KISS serves as the guest mentor this week. He’ll be welcomed by show host Ryan Seacrest and judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

How to watch ‘American Idol’ Season 22 online

While “American Idol” will broadcast live on ABC, free online options are available for cord cutters too. DirecTV Stream offers 75+ channels for $79.99 per month. FuboTV offers access to over 100 entertainment, news and sports channels for $79.99/month.

What channel is ABC on?

You can find which channel ABC is on by using the channel finders here: Cox , Verizon Fios , AT&T U-verse , Comcast Xfinity , Spectrum/Charter , Optimum/Altice , DIRECTV and Dish .

How to watch other recent shows online

• 2024 Latin AMAs: How to watch for free | Channel, performers, nominees & more
• ‘Fatal Fixer Upper’ premiere: How to watch online for free
• ‘Top Chef’ Season 21, episode 6: How to watch online

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Nfl draft: usc’s caleb williams is no. 1 overall, as quarterbacks selected 1-2-3, jon bon jovi to serve as guest mentor for ‘american idol’s season 22 finale.

By Armando Tinoco

Armando Tinoco

Night & Weekend Editor

More Stories By Armando

• Matty Healy Reacts To Taylor Swift’s “Diss Track” From ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
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Jon Bon Jovi is set to be a guest mentor for the Top 3 contestants on American Idol ‘s Season 22 finale.

The singing competition winner will be crowned on Sunday, May 19, and Bon Jovi will mentor the finalists, the show announced on tonight’s episode.

Bon Jovi also stars in the Hulu docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story , which is set to premiere on the streamer on Friday, April 26.

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Thank you, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story joins the band in February 2022 and follows their real-time journey with its fits and starts as they attempt to chart out their future.

Bon Jovi opens the vault of 40 years of personal videos, unreleased early demos, original lyrics, and never-before-seen photos that chronicle the journey from Jersey Shore Clubs to the biggest stages on the planet. The series relives the triumphs and setbacks, greatest hits, biggest disappointments, and most public moments of friction.

Thank you, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story is directed and executive produced by Gotham Chopra. The film is also executive produced by Giselle Parets and Ameeth Sankaran for ROS, and it is produced and edited by Alex Trudeau Viriato, who played a critical, creative role in shaping the series.

Earlier this year, Bon Jovi opened up about recovering from vocal cord surgery and questioning if he could tour again after one of his cords was atrophied.

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Latin AMAs 2024: See the Complete Winners List!

The 2024 Latin American Music Awards are taking place on Thursday, April 25, airing live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas

Romain Maurice/Getty; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; John Parra/Telemundo via Getty

The 2024 Latin American Music Awards brought the heat to Las Vegas!

Hosted by Becky G , Thalía , Alejandra Espinoza, and Carlos Ponce, the award show aired live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 25.

Over 30 performers took the stage including Feid and Peso Pluma , who each scored 12 award nominations.

The night also had special honorees like Banda MS and Ricardo Montaner, who received the Latin AMA Legacy Award, and Yandel, who was recognized with the Latin AMA Pioneer Award.

Check out the complete winner's list below:

Artist of the Year

Bad Bunny Carin León Eslabon Armado Feid Fuerza Regida Karol G - WINNER Peso Pluma Rauw Alejandro Romeo Santos Shakira

New Artist of the Year

Bad Gyal Chino Pacas Gabito Ballesteros Majo Aguilar Peso Pluma Venesti Xavi Yng Lvcas Young Miko - WINNER Zhamira Zambrano

Song of the Year

“Bailando Bachata” – Chayanne "El Merengue” – Marshmello & Manuel Turizo “Ella Baila Sola” – Eslabon Armado & Peso Pluma “Lala” – Myke Towers “Según Quién” – Maluma & Carin León “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” – Bizarrap & Shakira “Solo Conmigo” – Romeo Santos “TQG” – Karol G & Shakira - WINNER “Un X100to” – Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny “Yandel 150” – Yandel & Feid

Album of the Year

3MEN2 KBRN – Eladio Carrión Colmillo De Leche – Carin León Desvelado – Eslabon Armado El Comienzo – Grupo Frontera Feliz Cumpleaños Ferxxo Te Pirateamos El Álbum – Feid Génesis – Peso Pluma Mañana Será Bonito – Karol G - WINNER Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana – Bad Bunny Pa Que Hable n – Fuerza Regida Playa Saturno – Rauw Alejandro

Collaboration of the Year

“La Bebe Remix” – Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma “Según Quién” – Maluma & Carin León “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” – Bizarrap & Shakira “Un X100to” – Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny “Yandel 150” – Yandel & Feid - WINNER

Collaboration Crossover of the Year

“Dientes” – J Balvin, Usher & Dj Khaled “El Merengue” – Marshmello & Manuel Turizo “Niña Bonita” – Feid & Sean Paul - WINNER “Ojalá” – The Rudeboyz, Maluma & Adam Levine “Vocation” – Ozuna & David Guetta

Best Crossover Artist

Adam Levine David Guetta DJ Khaled Drake Marshmello - WINNER Rema Sean Paul Usher

Streaming Artist of the Year

Bad Bunny Eslabon Armado Feid - WINNER Fuerza Regida Grupo Frontera Junior H Karol G Peso Pluma Rauw Alejandro Young Miko

Tour of the Year

Doble P Tour 2023 – Peso Pluma Fórmula Vol.3 Tour – Romeo Santos Luis Miguel Tour 2023 – Luis Miguel Mañana Será Bonito Tour – Karol G Soy Rebelde Tour – RBD - WINNER

Global Latin Artist of the Year

Bad Bunny Feid Fuerza Regida Grupo Frontera Junior H Karol G - WINNER Maluma Peso Pluma Quevedo Shakira

Global Latin Song of the Year

“Classy 101” – Feid & Young Miko - WINNER “Ella Baila Sola” – Eslabon Armado & Peso Pluma “Lala” – Myke Towers “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” – Bizarrap & Shakira “Un X100to” – Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny

Best Duo or Group – Pop

Camila Morat Piso 21 RBD - WINNER Reik

Best Artist – Pop

Bizarrap Enrique Iglesias Manuel Turizo Sebastián Yatra Shakira - WINNER

Best Album – Pop

Bailemos Otra Vez – Chayanne Cupido – TINI Orquídeas – Kali Uchis — WINNER

Best Song – Pop

“Acróstico” – Shakira - WINNER “Beso” – Rosalía & Rauw Alejandro “Fugitivos” – Camila “Pasa_je_ro” – Farruko “Una Noche Sin Pensar” – Sebastián Yatra

Best Artist – Urban

Bad Bunny Feid Karol G - WINNER Rauw Alejandro Young Miko

Best Album – Urban

DATA – Tainy PM (La Perreo Mixtape) – Yng Lvcas Mañana Será Bonito – Karol G - WINNER Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana – Bad Bunny Playa Saturno – Rauw Alejandro

Best Song – Urban

“Lala” – Myke Towers “TQG” – Karol G & Shakira “Un Cigarillo” – Chencho Corleone  “Where She Goes” – Bad Bunny “Yandel 150” – Yandel & Feid - WINNER

Best Collaboration – Urban

“Arranca” – Becky G Ft. Omega “Borracho y Loco” – Yandel & Myke Towers “Classy 101” – Feid & Young Miko - WINNER “Hey Mor” – Ozuna & Feid “Me Porto Bonito” – Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone

Best Artist – Regional Mexican

Carin León - WINNER Gabito Ballesteros Ivan Cornejo Junior H Peso Pluma

Best Duo or Group Regional Mexican

Calibre 50 Eslabon Armado Fuerza Regida Grupo Frontera - WINNER Los Ángeles Azules

Best Album – Regional Mexican

Desvelado – Eslabon Armado Colmillo De Lech e – Carin León El Comienzo – Grupo Frontera Génesis – Peso Pluma - WINNER Pa Las Baby’s y Belikeada – Fuerza Regida

Best Song – Regional Mexican

“Di Que Sí” – Grupo Marca Registrada & Grupo Frontera “Difícil Tu Caso” – Alejandro Fernández “Dirección Equivocada” – Calibre 50 “Indispensable” – Carin León “TQM” – Fuerza Regida - WINNER

Best Collaboration – Regional Mexican

“Bebe Dame” – Fuerza Regida & Grupo Frontera  “El Amor De Su Vida” – Grupo Frontera & Grupo Firme  “Ella Baila Sola” – Eslabon Armado & Peso Pluma - WINNER  “Pa’ Olvidarme De Tus Besos” – Lenin Ramírez & Banda Ms De Sergio Lizárraga “Qué Agonía” – Yuridia & Ángela Aguilar

Best Artist – Tropical

Carlos Vives  Luis Figueroa  Marc Anthony  Prince Royce  Romeo Santos - WINNER

Best Song – Tropical

“Bailando Bachata” – Chayanne "Bandido” – Luis Figueroa "La Falta Que Me Haces” – Natti Natasha "Me Enrd” – Prince Royce "Solo Conmigo” – Romeo Santos - WINNER

Best Collaboration – Tropical

 “Ambulancia” – Camilo & Camila Cabello  “Asi Es La Vida” – Enrique Iglesias & Maria Becerra  “El Merengue” – Marshmello & Manuel Turizo - WINNER  “La Fórmula” – Maluma & Marc Anthony  “Si Tú Me Quieres” – Fonseca & Juan Luis Guerra

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MONSTA X’s I.M announces 2024 ‘Off The Beat’ world tour

Featuring concerts in Asia, the US and Europe

South Korean singer I.M , a member of K-pop boyband MONSTA X , has announced his upcoming 2024 ‘Off The Beat’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, the US and Europe.

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Today (April 22), I.M announced his massive 2024 ‘Off The Beat’ world tour, which will feature 19 concerts from May to September this year. The tour is named after the singer’s latest mini-album , which same out earlier this month.

The MONSTA X member will kick-off his tour this May with a two-date concert in Seoul, South Korea. Following a one-month break, the singer will bring his tour to Europe from late-July to early-August, with performances in London, Paris, Berlin and more.

Across the rest of August, I.M will tour North American. The concert will feature seven dates in the US, including states such as New York, California and Texas, plus two shows in Canada. In September 2024, the K-pop idol will head to Asia, with three East Asian dates alongside a sole Southeast Asian performance.

The venue and ticketing information for I.M’s 2024 ‘Off The Beat’ world tour have yet to be announced. Keep tabs on this page for the latest updates.

The dates for I.M’s 2024 ‘Off The Beat’ world tour are:

MAY 2024 25: Seoul, South Korea 26: Seoul, South Korea

JULY 2024 26: London, United Kingdom 28: Paris, France

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AUGUST 2024 01: Cologne, Germany 03: Berlin, Germany 08: Boston, Massachusetts 10: New York, New York 15: Toronto, Ontario 17: Chicago, Illinois 23: Houston, Texas 25: Dallas, Texas 27: Vancouver, British Columbia 29: Berkeley, California 31: Los Angeles, California

SEPTEMBER 2024 19: Taipei, Taiwan 22: Tokyo, Japan 24: Bangkok, Thailand 29: Macau, China

I.M WORLD TOUR 2024 <Off The Beat> #IM #아이엠 #OffTheBeat #IM_WORLDTOUR_2024 pic.twitter.com/vLo0cnTF3v — I.M (아이엠) (@IMxSMEK) April 21, 2024

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