ABC Louis Knight on 'American Idol'
Tonight’s episode of ABC’s American Idol is a special never-before-seen episode called This is Me. The episode will take a deeper look into the lives and performances of this years’ top 21 contestants.
At the end of last week’s episode, Idol revealed a never-before-seen twist. Usually, at this early point in the competition, the judges are the ones who make the decision regarding which contestants move forward to the next rounds. This time, however, things are a bit different.
This season, Idol judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan couldn’t make up their minds between two contestants, so they changed the top 20 to the top 21 and opened up voting on the last two to the viewers.
Viewers had to choose between Lauren Mascitti and Grace Leer. The two are both country music singer-songwriters who reminded the judges of classic country music, and they were roommates during the filming of the Showcase round in Hawaii.
Read on to learn more about the top 21 contestants on this year’s Idol.
‘American Idol’ 2020 Top 21 Contestants
The top 21 contestants were announced at the end of the Showcase round. The contestants will be featured in the two-part event American Idol: This is Me, and they will later participate in the later rounds of the 2020 competition.
Aliana Jester, 19, from Tampa, Florida
Arthur Gunn, 22, from Wichita, Kansas
Cyniah Elise, 18, from Atlanta, Georgia
DeWayne Crocker Jr., 23, from Pensacola, Florida
Dillon James, 26, from Bakersfield, California
Faith Becnel, 20, from Desterhan, Louisiana
Francisco Martin, 19, from San Francisco, California
Franklin Boone, 28, from Durham, North Carolina
Grace Leer, 28, from Nashville, Tennessee
Jonny West, 23, from Murietta, California
Jovin Webb, 29, from Gonzales, Louisiana
Julia Gargano, 22, from Staten Island, New York
Just Sam, 21, from Harlem, New York
Kimmy Gabriela, 17, from Lakeland, Florida
Lauren Mascitti, 28, from Nashville, Tennessee
Lauren Spencer-Smith, 16, from Vancouver Island, Canada
Louis Knight, 19, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Makayla Phillips, 17, from Temecula, California
Nick Merico, 24, from Woodland Hills, California
Olivia Ximines, 17, from Menifee, California
Sophia Wackerman, 20, from Long Beach, California
‘American Idol’ 2020 Live Shows Status
Right now, it’s unclear when or how the American Idol season will continue after the two episodes of American Idol: This is Me.
ABC has already shut down production on the network’s biggest reality show, The Bachelorette, with no announced plans on whether Clare Crawley’s season will happen at this point.
Other programs that have halted production or been altogether canceled for 2020 include Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, Grey’s Anatomy, The Flash, The Last Man Standing, and all late-night shows including The Late Late Show With James Corden, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The late-night shows have picked back up, but the hosts are streaming the show from their homes and guests appear via live stream.
Because of the global coronavirus pandemic, Idol live shows have been delayed until further notice. The next two episodes, then, are episodes that have been edited together from unseen footage from auditions. They will show off more about the families and backgrounds of each contestant that made it into the top 21.
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