Proving that no judgment is ever really final, even during the literal Final Judgment round, American Idol introduced a first-of-its-kind twist on Monday.
“Us judges, we like to change it up every season,” Katy Perry told an anxious trio of contestants — Colin Stough, Iam Tongi and Matt Wilson, photo’d above — as they awaited to find out who would snag the final spot in the Top 24. “We have so much talent this season, we don’t think there’s a Top 24… we think there’s a Top 26.” And just like that, all three were through.
With this season’s Showstopper/Final Judgment two-parter now behind us, we officially know which singers will move on to compete at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii on Sunday. But if you were wondering why we only learned 25 names instead of 26, TVLine hears that the 26th contestant will be revealed in the next episode.
Unfortunately, this means we also know which singers will not be moving on. Monday’s episode said goodbye to several fan favorites, including country crooner Preston Duffee, who had the energy but not the vocals; Platinum Ticket recipient Cam Amen, who put an R&B spin on “The Impossible Dream”; Kaya Monee’, who continues to do Willie Spence proud; and old-school rocker Trey Louis, who was apparently “very, very close” to making the cut.
Read on for a refresher of which contestants made it into this season’s Top 26, complete with videos of their Showstopper performances (if available), then drop a comment with your thoughts on the results. Which eliminated singers still deserve to be in the competition, and which Top 26-ers will you be rooting for on Sunday?
I feel like Chris Stapleton’s “Cold” has been done to death already, but I’ll forgive it anytime it’s done this well.
As previously mentioned, Stough — along with Wilson — was one of the lucky two that turned the Top 24 into a Top 26.
I enjoyed Wayne’s performance of Cody Fry’s “Flying,” and I’m down with his mission to uplift people through music, but I could really use more personality from this one.
McCormick’s beautiful spirit fully shone through in his inspirational performance of CeCe Winans’ “Believe For It.”
“Feeling Good”? Been there, done that. And yet Kristine managed to take this timeless jam to some new, exciting places. She may be more of a rocker than any of us realized, especially with those glass-shattering high notes.
Busse’s theatrical background came in handy this week, as she acted out every word in Adele’s “Chasing Pavements.” Fortunately, the judges didn’t feel she was too theatrical this time around.
I may be showing my bias as a One Tree Hill stan, but you can never go wrong with Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Want to Be.” Nicolaisen certainly didn’t.
The judges enjoyed Haven Madison‘s performance of Sia’s “Bird Set Free,” a song she chose because she wishes she had written it herself.
At this point, especially after this ethereal performance of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence,” Tongi is less of a human contestant and more of a magical essence. Lionel Richie put it best: Tongi is “everything we want.”
She may not be an Idol yet, but after that killer performance of Bishop Briggs’ “River,” Kaeyra is already a rock star, a growler of Haley Reinhart proportions.
Ruben Studdard’s “Flying Without Wings” was an A+ song choice for someone like Lucy Love, who’s never been afraid to let her emotions flow freely on stage.
Heard had everyone vibing along to Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Talk” with his effortless confidence, but the judges still made him compete in a sing-off against PJAE to Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted.”
They both delivered and both made it through.
The judges appreciate the way Faith serves country with a twist of soul, something she did once again with Waylon Jennings’ “I Ain’t Living Long Like This,” showing off a growing stage presence in the process.
With Carrie Underwood’s “Flat on the Floor,” Byrd revealed a confident, commanding side to herself that she’s never shown before — and the judges liked what they saw.
Wilson’s performance of Chris Brown’s “Forever” was so fun, it (almost) made me forget the original artist.
As previously mentioned, Wilson — along with Stough — was one of the lucky two that turned the Top 24 into a Top 26.
The Christian singer bested Paige Anne in a sing-off to Adele’s “Easy on Me.” Anne may have given them more notes, but the judges’ couldn’t deny the character and authenticity that Danielle brought to her performance.
Michael Williams brought his perfect hair and golden falsetto to a strong performance of Miley Cyrus’ “Angels Like You.”
Serenity’s laid back yet powerful performance of Luther Vandross’ “Superstar” was written in the stars. And that whistle tone? Simply divine!
Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” was an extremely Nutsa song choice, and to navigate that tricky number while delivering choreography to match the energy is no easy feat. But Nutsa was totally in her element, feeding off the energy of the crowd very well.
Steele put his own unique spin on Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” proving himself as both a performer and an artist. “You don’t need anyone’s approval,” Perry told him. “You don’t even need our approval.” In this case, however, he does have their approval.
Not only did Soli nail that note in Celine Dion’s “All By Myself,” but the strong, polished performance proved just the opposite — you can’t be all by yourself in the Top 26!
PJAE delivered a strong, sultry performance of Luke James’ “I Want You,” but the judges were unconvinced, asking him to compete in a sing-off against Malik Heard to Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted.”
They both rocked it and both made it through.
Venegas may have forgotten forgot a few lines in Lizzo’s “Cuz I Love You,” but even his filler mumbling was spot-on. The guy’s got a killer voice, and no one doubted he would end up here.
Warren Peay once again took to the stage like a seasoned country legend, nailing Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post” even without his trusty guitar by his side.
Did anyone else get major Jennifer Hudson vibes from Wé Ani during her roof-blowing performance of Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way”? Ani is easily one of the most gifted singers left in the competition.
I couldn’t even hate on the cheesy moves he peppered into Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” because his whole schtick feels so genuine. Not to mention his vocals are absolutely insane. I think I might love him. Do I want to love him? That question is irrelevant, for I do not have a choice. I’ve been pulled into Smith’s vortex of charisma, and I am helpless to resist.
Three of the Top 26 on “Idol” appeared on “The Voice” and made it far into that competition.
They are We, Malik, and Marybeth.
Megan also was on the Voice. I’m only counting 25.
Thank you, I kept thinking some of these singers looked so familiar. Of course they were from the Voice. That is quite a lot to have 4 of the top 24 from the VOICE,
Mmm…(1)Trey & Cam kinda broke my heart. Geez. (2) I’m not a fan of Nailyah; (3) What the heck happened w/ Colin & Mary Beth? MaryBeth was shouting, & lost everything I’d loved about her..and Colin was NOT good. Not even on-key half the time! But noooo….we can’t let one of our money-makers go home. (4) So glad that Iam went through; (5) I’ve realized this season that Katy isn’t nice. And (6) what was Nutsa apologizing for last night? For being human & imperfect? Her duet partner threw her under the bus, so I don’t get it..
But Katy was right about Nutsa…she needs to learn a little grace.
Because she knew it was in her best interest to get some rest before duets? ha. I guess I missed what happened that led Katy to say that.
I actually found Nutsa to have far more grace in that situation than her duet partner (name already forgotten) had in that moment. She got some rest. The partner apparently didn’t bother to do any of her own work during that time. When she got in touch with Nutsa, she immediately came down and got to work and didn’t appear to be rude at all about it. Then performance time comes; Nutsa (who did spend most of the night rehearsing) came looking ready to win, while her partner showed up looking like an angry hobo who immediately threw Nutsa under the bus.
I’m not Nutsa’s target audience but the judges gave her a fan in me when they unnecessarily cut her down.
100 percent agree with you!
My guess, judging from Nutsa’s performance, is that she’s sung “I Put a Spell on You” before. She knew it cold and had already learned an arrangement that showed off her voice. She’s a professional singer, with the repertoire and wardrobe to match. That pairing was meant to show her off as the one to put through. She would have done better not to bring it up again…she’d already killed off her duet partner; why not let us all forget?
Exactly…she lacked grace.
I was really rooting for Cam thinking he was #1 material before they gave him platinum .He didn’t do bad on his Showstopper performance so I don’t get why he was cut. It doesn’t make sense to me . I think Katy was either talking to Nutsa about why she left her duet partner hi and dry when it came to practicing Nutsa chose to go to bed and leave her partner to practice the duet by herself . When Nutsa performed she stepped away from her singing partner and was sort of flashing her leg and at that point you see Katy gasp if you watch back. Nuts a wasn’t doing a song where flashing cheesecake poses were relevant to the song . Maybe Katy was talking to Nutsa about doing both of those things.
I also want to mention Nutsa partner did pretty good but her outfit was very sad if she had taken off that tattered jacket she would have looked a little better even if she didn’t have any showstopper outfit to wear something neat but casual would have been enough. I think Nutsa is aspiring to be the next Jennifer Lopez along with Las Vegas style dancing and skimpy outfits needed for that type of show but this is American Idol owned by Disney I don’t think that fits very well in this show.
Idol list of Top 26 only has 25 names on it.
Why are there only 25 when they say there are 26???????
So the list only has 25 names not 26 … they say that the #26 spot will be revealed on Sunday but who is deciding and where will that person come from? Is it going to be someone that was told no and sent home … this doesn’t seem quite fair to me!! Too much drama!
If there is one thing American Idol producers excel at, it’s manufacturing cheap and needless drama.
What happened to Isaac Brown? Such a talented singer and cancer from Lo s Angeles who is a busker.
dancer
Paige Ann from Idaho has to be in the top 26…Idol kept saying they had a top 26 last night but I counted 25..look for Paige in Hawaii
One list I saw did have her on the list … so you could be correct but why not say so & ditch the drama!
Way too much talking on this singing contest! Geez, I thought the judges would never shut up and they couldn’t with any of the contestants just say “We love you and you are in the top 24” (or 26 or 132 or whatever it is going to be.) Just like how I see chefs from Top Chef appearing in all the (stupid) games on the (stupid) Food Network, I recognize singers on Idol from the Voice…but hey if you can swing that then go for it!! I was really, really sad about Trey…he more than deserves to go through so I am thinking that maybe he’ll be the Judges Three’s surprise? Lets just get crackin’ with this show!!!
FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE
should not have been cut
she is a fan favorite for a reason
be a coach- help her to achieve stardom!
I agree Fire was achieving everything she was striving for I feel sad about losing her as well.
I totally agree they need to bring her back and I’ve said this once and I will say it again, FIRE DESERVES TO BE IN THE TOP24 IF NOT TOP 10 PKS BRING HER BACK!!!
I’m so incredibly sad that Cam was eliminated last night. He sang with soul and conviction. I was sad that Lionel was talking instead of listening to him in the moment. His spin came from a level beyond some of the other contestants. Cam definitely should have had one last try. I think we all lost out. He ne
Out of all the great talent that got cut. Cam is the biggest surprise and I agree tremendous loss like you said.I still can’t make sense of why he is gone out of all of them.
Fire was amazing, she should be top 24. I was very disappointed.
Fire needs to be #26
I kept a sheet going as they revealed the top 24/26, and was so confused at the end because they made no mention that there was a mystery person making it in.
The five names I wrote down that I’d love to see in it would be: Fire, Kaylin Hedges, Paige Ann, Cam Amen, and Trey Louis. Hoping it is one of them!
Scratching my head wondering what Cam and Fire did that got them cut. I hate when one of my favorites is cut before America votes We get robbed on showing them support and they get robbed of seeing Americas support. C
I think he’s got great talent!
My favorite is Oliver Steele. I love his type of singing! He is talented, as good a song writer as he is a singer. I loved watching my great nephew come a long way in this contest . He has grown as a singer from the beginning. And to see him as such a kind and compassionate person to others in the show won this Aunt’s heart!
Everyone on this site seems to have the same favorites as me. I also like Oliver as well. As the show proceeds I tend to wean down from a handful of favorites to watch down to a couple Oliver’s style is typically the style I tend to end up being my favorite one to win.
I truly feel you guys need to call Fire back and give her yet another chance. This is one young beautifyl lady who really does deserve to be in the competition so pls BRING FIRE BACK!!!
Cam too bring them both back and I’m good. Let them sing another day for the vote
Hope IAM takes it all..
So do I he reminds me so much of Willie Spence it’s not even funny I feel like both of those guys are angels
There are 3 singers left who are in a tier by themselves, because they’re the only ones who are 10/10 in talent, musicianship, and credibility. Those 3 are We, Iam, and Oliver.
Google says someone named Becket Rex is the missing 26 th person .He supposedly quit the show so they just edited him out before it aired. That’s is why nobody knows him. Google also says he’s the son of actor Malcolm McDowell hope I spelled it right . Now I wonder why these celebrity offspring end up leaving early in tears. Maybe he doesn’t I don’t know but what was up with the girl that was Fires duet partner who claimed she was ill and then strangely Leaving in tears.
What happened to Samuel Harness?
I missed the first 5 minutes of tonight’s episode. Did Ryan talk about the person who left the show and who they replaced him with?
I went back and looked at the group picture of the supposed 26 in the 26 reveal episode and only counted 24 faces. The picture also has the guy that quit the show in it so does anyone know who the 2 people are that aren’t in the picture?
Iam, Oliver And Warren are Definitely Top 10!! At least THEY Should Be‼️
I agree with Janie Jo but add Matt and We as well but if any start to give boring song choices that cater to their selves or their own friends then they are off my list of faves. They should choose songs that appeal to all age groups and walks of life not just their own. I don’t want to hear another Adele , Elton or Billie Eilish because that’s the only thing that they can come up with to make it their own come on!