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| American Idol held it’s first-ever remote show with host Ryan Seacrest, contestant DeWayne and his family, and judges
Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan. Photo: ABC |
Tonight’s “American Idol” was the first of its kind. The Top 20 performed remotely from their homes hoping to get a spot in the Top 10 of “American Idol.” The Top 10 will be revealed next week after America’s vote.
Judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, host Ryan Seacrest, in-house mentor Bobby Bones, and the Top 20 contestants all joined in from 25 different locations across the country. The judges also gave their feedback about tonight’s performances.
In order to keep the performances as fair as possible, all of the contestants were given the same equipment – lighting, microphones, cameras, etc – and production took the audio from the second take (after the first rehearsal), but the camera passes were from all three of the performances captured while the “American Idol” band lead by Kris Pooley provided the music.
As far as standouts, the judges seemed to all agree on Franklin’s emotional and soulful performance of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears For Fears. His was just one of Katy Perry’s favorites of the night.
“Franklin’s was amazing. His song choice was incredible. it was timely and it really spoke to me,” Perry told TVMusic Network by phone after the show. “Jonny West’s “What A Wonderful World,” it was so moving. Also, [the contestants] picked really great songs that are very emotive and connect to the times, and actually, that is a part of what a successful song is about. A song that connects to the times and speaks to the times in a certain way. It can correct in so many different ways. Picking “What a Wonderful World” because it is a wonderful world and I think when we are all done with this…when we are all out of this, we’ll have so much more appreciation and gratitude, I hope, for what the world gives us, for what mother nature gives us and for all of those on the front lines that help us day in and day out and our behind the scenes heroes. He was so correct to pick that song.”
Lionel agreed. “Franklin Boone stepped up a little bit this trip around. I was extremely knock out by the fact that he brought it to the table and Louis Knight also did a great job. Arthur Gunn, every time he opens his mouth, I just get chill bumps. He’s just authentic with his sound, his look, and his story. And my other one, Jonny West did a great job. I think all of them found the right song for this time around, which was translated to us in a meaningful way. This was their first time around and we feel like ducks out of water, looking for a crowd reaction – we are all entertainers and performers so we had to get our learning curve together too but I think out of all of the performances, they were shining through.”
“When I look at who really won the night, I’d say, Franklin,” Luke Bryan said. “I remember watching it go down and I was really impressed with Franklin, really impressed with Francisco, and really impressed with Jonny. For whatever reason, they were able to tear down all the…they made it not feel like we were in a quarantine and in a pandemic. They, for some reason they just made it feel like, they made you comfortable when they were singing the songs. It gives them something to think about going forward. You have to make the viewer at home believe it and be comfortable watching it. If you’re dancing around your living room and it looks out of place or strange, people are going to pick up on that… I feel like those guys made it feel real, connectable, and relaxed.”
Adds Lionel Richie, “No one had a camera guy, a glam person, this was all done out of your house. We are all at our houses. For them to pull off any kind of meaning performance without screaming or some kind of crowd or audience, I have to give them all “A+s” just for the fact of surviving the pressure of that.”
Check out some of the performances below:
Voting concludes early tomorrow morning. Details are below:
Now it’s up to YOU! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE for your favorite and they could be the NEXT #AmericanIdol! pic.twitter.com/eJqYjeFm7F
— American Idol (@AmericanIdol) April 27, 2020
