Tonight, this season’s Top 12 performed Oscar-nominated songs in hopes of securing America’s vote into the Top 10, but only nine of them moved on. The 10th spot will be filled by one of 10 contestants from last season. “I like the curveballs. I think it keeps the show interesting, special and people tuning in,” judge Katy Perry told Parade.com. “I do agree with ABC and Idol in that the last season of contestants were really robbed a little bit from being able to really lean into being on stage with the lights, the fans, the audience, and the star wash. It was amazing talent. You can sound great from your garage, but it would be really nice to see like if they’re legit stars as well. I think some of them that got left behind truly are. We’re the show of second chances.” “I agree,” Lionel Richie said. “The stage is the stage. There’s something special about being on stage. You can’t really judge stage presence if you’re not on a stage, and so in this case it gives us an opportunity to take one more look just to see what that could be like. I’m really excited about it.” As for whether or not the returning artist from Season 3, could actually win Season 4, Katy added, “[Season 3 contestants] have been announced on the internet and they have nurtured their fan bases. Once you have a fan base and you love on them a little bit, they are going to love on you back. Arthur Gunn was trending on Twitter the last season several times and all of his fans will go, ‘I’m voting. I’m voting.’ It’s a curveball, but that is what happens in life. You have to stay on your A-game.” The thinking behind the new twist was, as Katy said, that last season’s contestants never got a chance to perform on the Idol stage. Production was shut down on the singing competition when California went into lockdown and the contestants were sent home. When it did resume, the rest of the season took place remotely from contestant’s homes, backyards and apartments. “We pivoted pretty quickly to remote production last year because we had to,” executive producer and showrunner Trish Kahane told Billboard. “When it became apparent that things were going to be a bit better this year and that we were going to be able to return to the Television City studio with the big lights, we thought about last year’s contestants. They did so well with the remote production, with their mums and dads helping them and their brothers and sisters holding iPhones and ring lights, but they never had the proper Idol experience. Some people really come alive on that big stage. We thought they deserved to have that experience.” “To get that call after being at home for several months and having had it sink in and going through like the seven stages of grief, and then all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Wow!’ That’s awesome,” Katy added.
The 10 returning AmericanIdol contestants are:
Faith Becnel
Franklin Boone Dwayne Crocker Jr. Cyniah Elise Arthur Gunn Aliana Jester Louis Knight Nick Merico Makayla Phillips Olivia Ximines
Voting for the “comeback contestants” will be open for a week, beginning at the end of the show on April 19th and closing on Monday, April 26 at 6 a.m. ET. American Idol airs Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Next, How to Vote for Your Favorite American Idol Contestants—Online or By Text
