“American Idol” is officially down to a top five.
During Sunday night’s live episode, more than 20 million votes from viewers at home helped determine the season’s top five —eliminating another two singers from the competition.
Here’s a brief recap of the episode.
A look at the ‘American Idol’ top 7 episode
“American Idol” headed to Disneyland for its Sunday episode, as well as the one that will air on Monday night.
To celebrate the Disney theme, the show brought in superstar songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the smash Broadway hit “Hamilton” who also wrote the music for a variety of Disney films, including “Moana,” “Encanto” and “Mufasa: The Lion King.”
Miranda guided the contestants ahead of their performances of classic Disney songs. The top seven each also performed a song in honor of Mother’s Day.
“Getting to work with Lin as a mentor was something so special for this round,” top seven contestant Thunderstorm Artis recently told the Deseret News. “I think when you’re covering iconic Disney songs, you want to make sure that you don’t veer too far from the source material, but whatever things that you do add to it, you want to make sure that you really pay respects to not just the people that wrote it, but to the people that are huge fans of the songs. And so he’s really helping me find the ways to keep it organic as me, but also really keep it connected to the source material.”
Performances from the top seven contestants included:
- Breanna Nix — “Reflection,” from “Mulan”; and “Like My Mother Does,” by Lauren Alaina
- Gabby Samone — “How Far I’ll Go,” from “Moana”; and “Home,” from “The Wiz”
- Jamal Roberts — “Go the Distance,” from “Hercules”; and “A Change is Gonna Come,” by Sam Cooke
- John Foster — “Almost There,” from “The Princess and the Frog”; and ”Believe,“ by Brooks and Dunn
- Mattie Pruitt —“Remember Me,” from “Coco”; and “Those Kind of Women,” by Lauren Alaina
- Slater Nalley — “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” from “The Lion King”; and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” by Bob Dylan
- Thunderstorm Artis — “Colors of the Wind,” from “Pocahontas”; and “Out of the Blue,” by Thunderstorm Artis
At the end of the two-hour episode, host Ryan Seacrest revealed the results of voting and announced the season’s top five singers.
Who made the ‘American Idol’ top 5?
The following singers made it into the “American Idol” top five:
John Foster
Jamal Roberts
Slater Nalley
Who went home on ‘American Idol’?
The following two singers got eliminated from the competition Sunday night:
- Gabby Samone
- Mattie Pruitt
When do the ‘American Idol’ top 5 perform?
Monday night will continue the show’s Disney theme.
During the live episode, each of the top five singers will perform twice from Disneyland Resort in an effort to claim a spot in the season finale, according to a TV listing for the episode.
The episode will feature a special appearance from Miranda and also bring on “Idol” Season 21 winner Iam Tongi for a performance of “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” from the new “Lilo & Stitch” movie.
“I’ve seen what he’s going to do on the show, and it’s going to be really fun,” Artis told the Deseret News. “He’s a real individual that I just really love. He doesn’t let the whole stardom stuff go to his head. He’s just so down to earth, and I really love that.”
When is the ‘American Idol’ season finale?
The “American Idol” Season 23 finale airs Sunday, May 18 at 6 p.m. MDT.
The live, three-hour episode will feature performances from guest artists and the season’s top three contestants. The show will reveal the winner at the end of the episode.