ABC/Eric McCandless
ABC’s American Idol season 18 is underway with episodes airing Sunday and Monday nights. Tonight’s episode of American Idol, March 15, 2020, begins at 8 p.m. ET/PT and is two hours long.
Directly prior to Idol, a new episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos airs from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Following American Idol, there will be a new episode of ABC’s The Rookie.
This season’s judges on American Idol are Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. They’re joined on the cast by host Ryan Seacrest and in-house mentor Bobby Bones.
Who is Performing on Episode Five?
ONE MORE EPISODE BEFORE #HOLLYWOODWEEK
This week features 13 performances from the last of the audition round. At this point, it’s possible the judges will be even pickier than usual since they’re wrapping up the auditions and have already seen a lot of very talented performances.
Here’s the list of who will be performing this episode:
Makayla Brownlee
Amber Fiedler
Jafar Hurambi
Jahzan
Aliana Jester
Meghan Knight
Grace Leer
Jordan Moyes
Justin Oliver
Demi Rae
Gilberto Rivera
Luke Stafford
Robert Taylor
At least a few of these hopefuls will make it through to the Hollywood Week round at the very least. A few may even make it further in the season.
The TV Schedule for Live Episodes May Be Delayed
Unfortunately, due to the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus,) it’s possible that the live shows due to start in April will be postponed until a later date, or they could be taped without a live audience. The decision will be made closer to the start date of production on those.
The fifth episode of the season is the final episode of auditions before Hollywood Week. This week, the show moves to a format where it will air both Sundays and Mondays rather than just on Sundays. This will ensure the show doesn’t interfere with The Bachelor: Listen To Your Heart, which premieres in mid-April.
After the two episodes for Hollywood Week air on Monday, March 16 and Sunday, March 22, the top 40 will be announced. Then, the Showcase Round will begin on March 23, 2020. There, the Top 40 will perform and will be cut down to the Top 20 by the end of the round.
Following the Showcase Round and the performances of the Top 20, which have been pre-taped, live voting will begin. Usually, live voting begins later in the season, but Idol is trying something new this time around. This is the end of the pre-taped episodes, though, and the rest of the season could be in flux after that.
If production goes on as is currently planned, the season will wrap up by the end of April or early in May.
Tune in to American Idol at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC on Sundays and Mondays to watch the auditions unfold and see which Idol hopefuls receive Golden Tickets to Hollywood. If you want to know which contestants make the top 20 this season, we have put together a list of everyone who made it up to the final pre-taped episode.
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