ABC/Eric McCandless
ABC’s American Idol wrapped up the audition episodes on Sunday, and they’ve now moved on to the dreaded Hollywood Week, where the contestants will be cut down to the top 40 before the Showcase round.
Going into Hollywood Week, there are usually a large number of acts that made it through auditions that end up getting sent home very early on in the process. Sometimes these are people who really stood out during the audition process, but they just don’t make it far in the competition.
Judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan are joined by in-house mentor Bobby Bones and long-time Idol host Ryan Seacrest to round out the cast for Hollywood Week. All the episodes have been pre-taped.
Read on to learn about the new Hollywood Week format and who will be performing on tonight’s episode of American Idol.
Who Is Performing Tonight?
The two-night #AmericanIdol event continues tonight at 8|7c with a brand new Hollywood Week! t.co/bUxeOous65
Tonight will be a big night for Idol fans, and there will be over 20 performances aired. Hollywood Week this year consists of different rounds than it has in the past, but this week is the genre challenge. The contestants choose a genre, and then they’ll be able to sing a song of their choosing.
Here’s a list of all the contestants who will be performing on tonight’s episode:
Kimmy Gabriela
Lauren Mascitti
Lauren Spencer
Makayla Phillips
Julia Gargano
Sophia Wackerman
Genavieve Linkowski
Louis Knight
Shannon Gibbons
Bilaal Avas
Francisco Martin
Jovin Webb
Cyniah Elise
Marna Michele
Arthur Gunn
Nick Merico
Jonny West
Margie Mays
Hannah Prestige
Just Sam
Kay Genyse
Dillon James
Doug Kiker
Many standouts from the audition rounds are seen on the above list. Lauren Mascitti, Makayla Phillips, Louis Knight, Francisco Martin, Jonny West and Doug Kiker all received a ton of praise from the judges at the time of their auditions.
‘American Idol’ 2020 Hollywood Week Format
Prior to the beginning of American Idol Season 18’s Hollywood Week, there were hints that there would be changes to the usual format. In promo clips for the new episodes, however, Perry said everything would be changing.
Of course, there will still be plenty of drama, catfights, meltdowns and disappointing performances coming out of Hollywood Week.
So, this year, instead of running the usual “lines of 10” like they have in previous seasons, contestants will now be able to showcase their favorite music styles. They’ll get to choose a genre, and then they’ll perform a song in that genre of their choosing.
Next, Idol will use duets rather than groups to get to know contestants more. Each contestant will get to pair up with an opponent, select a song, create an arrangement and then perform it. The contestants get to choose who they’d like to work with.
The third round of Hollywood Week will operate the same as it has previously. The round will showcase contestants in solo performances, and they’ll have the opportunity to perform with a whole band behind them, giving viewers the opportunity to see how well the contestants do under that light.
Tune in to American Idol Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC to see the hopefuls perform.
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