American Idol season 24

The twenty-fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 26, 2026, on ABC.^[1] Ryan Seacrest returns as host; Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood returned as judges.^[2][3]

The Idol Across America virtual auditions program returned. Remote auditions were held from August 26 to October 6, 2025, as well as a number of open-call auditions. From these auditions, producers of the show selected the contestants who would be invited to audition in front of the judges. Only one audition city hosted the judges; all those chosen were sent to Nashville.^[4]

For the first time, Hollywood Week was not held in or near Hollywood. Instead, it was held in Nashville and was dubbed the "Music City Takeover". A total of 127 contestants advanced to this stage of the competition. Each contestant performed a song of their own choice. After a select number of performances, several contestants at a time were called to the stage, and the judges sent some to the adjacent "Golden Room" which was a holding room for those who could advance, while the rest were eliminated. After all contestants performed, 60 were sent to the Golden Room while the judges made their final deliberations, and the rest were eliminated.

Of those in the Golden Room, 28 of them were chosen as part of the Top 30, while another 28 were eliminated. The last four contestants performed two sing-offs of which one in each advanced, and the other was eliminated.

The 30 contestants that that made it through Hollywood Week are: Makiyah, Jordan McCullough, Lucas Leon, Bella Emry, Madison Moon, Keyla Richardson, Braden Rumfelt, Chris Tungseth, Jake Thistle, Tianna Roberts, Philmon Lee, Brooks Rosser, Daniel Stallworth, Kutter Bradley, Bryant Thomas, Jesse Findling, Julián Kalel, Sheldon Riley, Brianna Yancey, Kiera Howell, Kyndal Inskeep, Hannah Harper, Ruby Rae, Jacquie Lee, Brenna Brigman, Rae, Genevieve Heyward, Abayomi, Michael Garner, and Chloe Lauren.^[5]

For the 'Ohana Round, the Top 30 contestants performed. The round was filmed in late January 2026 and aired on March 9, 2026. Three platinum tickets were given out: one chosen by "industry executives", one chosen by the contestant's families, and one chosen by the contestants. After the 'Ohana Round, the Top 20 was selected to go to America's vote. The Top 20, with their performances, are listed below; of the contestants in the Top 20, the three that received a platinum ticket are Jordan McCullough, Brooks, and Kyndal Inskeep.

The top 20 contestants were split into two groups of ten and performed a song each at the Aulani resort in Kapolei, Hawaii on Oahu. The first group's performances aired on March 16, while the second group aired on March 23. Brad Paisley and Keke Palmer both served as guest mentors during the round. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

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An official American Idol podcast, hosted by Danielle Fishel, will launch on April 1, 2026.^[6]

For this season as per the American Idol app, the American Idol app has been discontinued, so voting will only take place via the website https://www.americanidol.com, & via text messages* (*data rates may apply).