The final four “American Idol” contestants performed on Sunday’s show. Caleb Kennedy was missing from the competition this week. The episode was originally set to feature five contestants, but Kennedy left the competition last week after a controversial video of him appeared on social media. Host Ryan Seacrest mentioned at the top of the show that Kennedy “will not be continuing in the competition”.
The judges didn’t have a part in the decision made by ABC, however Judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan gave their thoughts on the decision in a virtual Q&A after the show. Luke Bryan stated “First and foremost, as judges and as a judges panel, we love these kids, and we get emotionally involved. We want the best for them. As far as the nuances of how ABC gets viewed either way decisions got made and it is our job as judges is to show up and do our best to comment on the kids that are in front of us.We wish nothing but the best for Caleb, and it does make for a very, very challenging week.”
Richie added “We grow up, and we make mistakes, and we look at our lives behind us many, many times, and we say, ‘God, what was I thinking about when I did that?’ This is one of those situations. He definitely has the talent, so the problem is that you know this is one of those unfortunate decisions that had to be made and we move on”.
The Top 3 contestants will compete for the win on Sunday, May 23rd on ABC.
