ABC American Idol judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan
The season 18 finale of American Idol airs tonight, May 17, 2020 at 8 p.m./7 p.m. central on ABC. The show will feature a slew of celebrity guests and performances in addition to performances from the top five contestants.
The two-hour season finale will be presented from the homes of each of the Idol judges, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Brian as well as long-time host Ryan Seacrest, mentor Bobby Bones, and the homes of the contestants and special guests.
Each of the top five contestants will perform two songs, the first will be their song to celebrate making it into the finale and the second will be a song they previously performed and their new American Idol single.
Read on to learn more about what guests will join the show tonight.
Celebrity Guests and Performances Include Performances From ‘Idol’ Judges
Tonight’s show will feature many celebrity performances.
Here’s what we know about the lineup for tonight:
- Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo will be joined by the top 11 of the season to perform a medley of iconic Aretha Franklin songs.
- Grammy Winner Lauren Daigle will be joined by the top five to perform her 3-times platinum hit “You Say.”
- Rascall Flats and fan-favorite contestant Doug Kiker will perform “Bless the Broken Road.”
- American Idol judge Luke Bryan will perform his newest single “One Margarita.”
- Idol judge Katy Perry will perform her new single “Daisies” in its TV debut.
The top seven finalists include the following contestants:
- Arthur Gunn
- Dillon James
- Francisco Martin
- Jonny West
- Julia Gargano
- Just Sam
- Louis Knight
To cast a vote for your favorite contestant, you’ll have to visit the website at americanidol.com/vote, download the official American Idol app, or text the contestant number to 21523.
Voting opens a few minutes into the show and closes at approximately 9:15 p.m. ET, which is 6:15 p.m. PST and 8:15 p.m. central. Fans can vote up to 10 times per method per contestant. The winner will be announced near the end of the show.
The ‘American Idol’ Family Will Perform “We Are The World”
American Idol judge Lionel Richie will be joined by previous contestants to perform “We Are the World,” a song that was originally written by Richie and Michael Jackson and released in 1985. Proceeds at the time went to the United Support of Artists for Africa non-profit.
The song was previously remade in 2010 following a catastrophic earthquake in Hawaii. This will be the first TV performance of the song in 35 years.
The new version of “We Are the World” will feature Richie alongside Alejandro Aranda a.k.a. Scarypoolparty, Fantasia Taylor, Gabby Barrett, Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Laine Hardy, Lauren Alaina, Phillip Phillips, Ruben Studdard and Scotty McCreery. The song will close out the show.
Tune into American Idol tonight, May 17, 2020, at 8 p.m./7 p.m. central to see which of the final seven contestants is named this year’s American Idol. The show will be followed by Taylor Swift’s Lover in Paris concert, which airs at 10 p.m. and is one hour long.
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