American Idol season 23


The twenty-third season of American Idol premiered March 2, 2025, on ABC. Ryan Seacrest returned as host and Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie came back as judges. Season four winner Carrie Underwood replaced Katy Perry as a judge.
Jamal Roberts won the season on May 18, 2025, while John Foster was the runner-up, and Breanna Nix finished in third place.

Auditions

The Idol Across America virtual auditions program which began in 2020 returned and auditions were held remotely from August 12 to September 9, 2024. There were also many open-call auditions and from those, the producers selected contestants to audition in front of the judges.
The "platinum ticket" also returned from the previous three seasons. During the audition round three platinum tickets were awarded. The recipients were Kolbi Jordan, Filo, and Canaan James Hill.
CityFilming dateFilming venue
New York CitySeptember 30, 2024PENN 2
NashvilleOctober 30, 2024Music City Center
Los AngelesDecember 2024Calamigos Ranch

Hollywood Week

Dubbed the "Idol Arena", each of the 144 contestants were chosen at random to perform a solo, and sixty-two of them advanced to the next round. The three platinum ticket recipients sang. Their advantage was the ability to skip this round and they sang a bonus performance. Joining them were 59 additional contestants who cleared the Idol Arena, while the other 82 were eliminated. The "Showstoppers" round determined the Top 24 semifinalists. In a twist after the Showstoppers round, while cuts were made, the judges chose four contestants to advance to the Top 24 and the remaining 42 competed in the Head to Head round. During the round contestants had 24 hours to pick a partner and prepare a duet performance. After the duets, the judges chose 20 to be in the Top 24.

Showstopper round

The Showstopper round featured the top 62 contestants performing for the judges and a live audience at the Barker Hangar. The round was filmed on January 27, 2025, and aired on April 7, 2025. The judges narrowed the number of contestants down to 46, with four advancing to the Top 24. Five contestants which made it to the Top 24 did not have their Showstopper performance aired. The next night, a new "Head to Head" round was featured where the remaining 42 contestants sang for 20 spots. Jelly Roll debuted as the "Artist in Residence" and he mentored the contestants until the winner was announced.
Among these contestants are Thunderstorms Artis & Victor Solomon, who were on The Voice Seasons eighteen and twenty respectively. They were both coached by John Legend, but Thunderstorm got stolen in the knockout rounds by Nick Jonas. Thunderstorm got third place and Victor got fifth place.
ContestantSong
Victor Solomon"In the Air Tonight"
Mattie Pruitt"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
Kolbi Jordan"River Deep – Mountain High"
Isaiah Misailegalu"What Hurts the Most"
Breanna Nix"The Trouble with Love Is"
Drew Ryn"Always On My Mind"
Jamal Roberts"Tennessee Whiskey"
Amanda Barise"Ain't Nobody"
Desmond Roberts"Barracuda"
John Foster"In Color"
Zaylie Windsor"Happier Than Ever"
Filo"Anything Worth Holding On To"
Slater Nalley"Ophelia"
MKY"Sabor a Mí"
Gabby Samone"Four Women"
Grayson Torrence"Oscar Winning Tears"
Thunderstorm Artis"Imagine"
Olivier Bergeron"Like a Stone"
Canaan James Hill"Never Would Have Made It"

Top 24 (April 13 & 14)

The top 24 contestants were split into two groups of twelve and performed a song each at the Aulani resort in Kapolei, Hawaii on Oahu. The first group taped performances on February 11 which aired on April 13, while the second group taped on February 12 and aired on April 14. Ashanti was a guest mentor and judge for the first group, and Josh Groban for the second group. Two contestants from each group were eliminated based on the public vote and the rest advanced to the top 20. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Color key:


PerformerSong
Ashanti"The Way That I Love You" / "Foolish"

PerformerSong
Josh Groban"Be Alright"

Top 20 (April 20 & 21)

The top 20 performances aired on Sunday, April 20 and the results were revealed on Monday, April 21. The top 20 performances aired on Easter and the theme for the episode was "Songs of Faith."
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Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
ContestantSongResult
Canaan James Hill"Better Days"Safe
Drew Ryn"Yellow"Wild Card
Desmond Roberts"Worship"Wild Card
Filo"Bridge over Troubled Water"Safe
Josh King"You Are So Beautiful"Wild Card
Thunderstorm Artis"Reckless Love"Safe
Amanda Barise"If I Ain't Got You"Wild Card
John Foster"Tell That Angel I Love Her"Safe
Mattie Pruitt"Rescue"Safe
Olivier Bergeron"Stay"Wild Card
Breanna Nix"Up to the Mountain"Safe
Victor Solomon"For Every Mountain"Wild Card
Baylee Littrell"Gone Without Goodbye"Wild Card
Isaiah Misailegalu"Give You Blue"Wild Card
Gabby Samone"I Am Changing"Safe
Slater Nalley"Soulshine"Safe
Zaylie Windsor"Silver Springs"Wild Card
Jamal Roberts"Forever"Safe
Ché"Redemption Song"Wild Card
Kolbi Jordan"Amazing Grace"Safe

ContestantSongResult
Kolbi Jordan"I'm Every Woman"Safe
Isaiah Misailegalu"Sleepwalker"Eliminated
Drew Ryn"Million Reasons"Eliminated
Thunderstorm Artis"I Love You"Safe
Olivier Bergeron"It's Not My Time"Eliminated
Filo"Skyfall"Safe
John Foster"Neon Moon"Safe
Josh King"Never Gonna Give You Up"Saved by the judges
Mattie Pruitt"In the Stars"Safe
Canaan James Hill"Stand"Safe
Ché"Jealous Guy"Saved by the judges
Baylee Littrell"All of Me"Eliminated
Desmond Roberts"Titanium"Saved by the judges
Breanna Nix"The Show Must Go On"Safe
Zaylie Windsor"Still Into You"Eliminated
Jamal Roberts"Try a Little Tenderness"Safe
Slater Nalley"This Ain't It"Safe
Victor Solomon"Stayin' Alive"Eliminated
Gabby Samone"Don't Rain on My Parade"Safe
Amanda Barise"Ain't No Way"Saved by the judges

PerformerSong
Lionel Richie"Eternity"
Luke Bryan"Jesus 'Bout My Kids"
Jelly Roll & Brandon Lake"Hard Fought Hallelujah"
CeCe Winans & Roman Collins"Come Jesus Come"
Carrie Underwood"How Great Thou Art"

Finals

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Top 14 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (April 27)

served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed one song from inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
ContestantSongResult
Filo"With a Little Help from My Friends"Safe
Mattie Pruitt"Piece of My Heart"Safe
John Foster"Jailhouse Rock"Safe
Desmond Roberts"Jesus is Love"Eliminated
Jamal Roberts"Shout"Safe
Amanda Barise"I Can't Help It"Eliminated
Canaan James Hill"Mary, Don't You Weep"Safe
Josh King"The Longest Time"Safe
Thunderstorm Artis"Fire and Rain"Safe
Gabby Samone"Saving All My Love for You"Safe
Breanna Nix"Open Arms"Safe
Kolbi Jordan"You're All I Need to Get By"Safe
Ché"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"Safe
Slater Nalley"Your Song"Safe

PerformerSong
Carrie Underwood"Alone"