The twenty-second season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' premiered on February 18, 2024, on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television network.

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American television presenter and producer. Seacrest is the host of '' Wheel of Fortune'', having hosted since replacing long-time host Pat Sajak in September 2024. Seacrest co-hosted and ser ...

returned as host;

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Count ...

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

, and

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

returned as judges. This season was Perry's final one on the show; she announced her departure on February 13, 2024, five days before the premiere. Abi Carter won the season on May 19, 2024, while Will Moseley was the runner-up, and Jack Blocker finished in third place.

Auditions

The ''Idol Across America'' virtual auditions program returned. Remote auditions took place from August 2 to September 8, 2023, as well as a number of open-call auditions, and from these, the producers selected the contestants who were then invited to audition in front of the judges. There were three new locations, the hometowns of the judges: Leesburg (Bryan), Tuskegee (Richie), and Santa Barbara (Perry). The "platinum ticket" also returned from the previous two seasons. During the audition round, a total of three platinum tickets were awarded. The platinum ticket recipients were Odell Bunton Jr., Carter, and Julia Gagnon. Carter was the first "platinum ticket" recipient to win the series.

Hollywood week

Hollywood week was filmed on December 10, 2023, at the

Barker Hangar Santa Monica Airport (Santa Monica Municipal Airport) is a general aviation airport largely in Santa Monica, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles area. It opened on April 15, 1923, making it one of the United States' oldest a ...

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. Dubbed the "Idol Arena", each contestant was chosen at random to perform a solo, and fifty-six of them advanced to the next round. The platinum ticket recipients (Abi Carter, Julia Gagnon, and Odell Bunton Jr.) sang "

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin" is a song written by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963 and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in Dec ...

" by

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...

as a trio. The advantage they received was the ability to skip this round, they were asked to do a bonus performance. The season did not feature a duet round. The "Showstoppers" round determined the Top 24 semifinalists.

Showstopper round

The Showstopper round featured the top 56 contestants performing for the judges and a live audience at the Barker Hangar. The round was filmed on December 11, 2023, and aired on April 1, 2024. The judges narrowed the number of contestants to 24. Here is a list of the contestants who reached the top 24 and the song they performed. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Top 24 (April 7 & 8)

The top 24 contestants were split into two groups of twelve and performed one solo each at the

Aulani Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, is a beachside resort hotel at the Ko Olina Resort in Kapolei, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. It is one of Disney's "stand-alone" hotels, situated in a location without any adjacent theme parks, alongside Disney ...

resort in

Kapolei, Hawaii Kapolei () is a New town, planned community in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States, on the island of Oahu, Oʻahu. In 1977, the government designated it as the "second city" of Oʻahu, in relation ...

. The first group taped on February 7 and aired on April 7, while the second group taped on February 8 and aired on April 8.

Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition on YouTube before making it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''American Idol'' in 2010 and eventually releasing her debu ...

served as a guest mentor and judge for the first group, and Jelly Roll for the second group. Two contestants from each group will be eliminated based on the public vote, and the rest will advance to the top 20. Contestants are listed in the order they performed. Color key:

Top 20 (April 14 & 15)

The top 20 performances were taped on Wednesday, April 10 and aired on Sunday, April 14, followed by the live results show on Monday, April 15. Color key: Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Finals

Color key:

Top 14 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (April 21)

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

served as a guest mentor for the week. Each contestant performed one song from inductees of the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Top 12 – Billboard #1 Hits (April 22)

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' #1 song. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Top 10 – Contestants' birth year (April 28)

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...

served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed a song from the year of their birth. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Top 8 – Judges' Song Contest (April 29)

The judges chose songs for each of the contestants to perform. Katy Perry had the most song choices selected by the contestants, and was able to save one contestant from elimination. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Top 7 – Dance songs & Adele (May 5)

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

served as a guest mentor for this week. Each contestant performed two songs: one dance song and one song from Adele's discography. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Top 5 – Disney (May 12)

Kane Brown Kane Allen Brown (born October 21, 1993) is an American country music singer and songwriter. First garnering a mass following on social media, he released his debut extended play (EP) ''Closer (Kane Brown EP), Closer'' in June 2015, and followe ...

served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed two songs from

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

films. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Top 3 and Top 2 – Finale (May 19)

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and Lead vocalist, frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was fo ...

served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed two songs – one from the

Jon Bon Jovi discography The discography of American singer Jon Bon Jovi includes two released studio albums, one live album, two compilations and sixteen singles. Albums Studio albums Live albums Compilation albums Singles * + "Please Come Home for Christmas ...

and one dedicated to their hometowns – before the contestant who had the fewest votes up to that point was eliminated, thereby finishing in third place. After Jack Blocker was eliminated, the Top 2 were Abi Carter and Will Moseley. Near the end of the show after the guest performances, Moseley and Carter sang their potential coronation singles. After the voting lines were closed, Carter was declared the winner while Moseley was runner-up.