The seventeenth season of American Idol premiered on March 3, 2019, on the ABC television network. It was the show's second season to air on ABC. Ryan Seacrest continued as host, while Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie returned as judges. Bobby Bones returned as the in-house mentor, and acted as a guest host for the episode on April 8, 2019.
Laine Hardy won the season on May 19, 2019, while Alejandro Aranda was the runner-up, and Madison VanDenburg finished in third place. Hardy became the first contestant that was not scheduled to audition in the audition round to win a season of a major singing competition anywhere in the world.
Regional auditions American Idol announced in June 2018 that the Idol bus would visit 20 cities, beginning with Orlando, Florida, and San Diego, California, on August 25. Auditions could also be submitted on the official website or on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok. During the 2018 CMA Awards, three contestants who didn't enter the competition and didn't initially audition were given the chance to enter the competition. The contestants were Cameron Lenz, Natalie Spiroff, and Meghan Woods. The winner of that vote was revealed to be Meghan Woods on Good Morning America on November 16, 2018. However, she was not shown in any episode.
+American Idol (season 17) – regional auditions City Filming date(s) Filming venue Denver, Colorado October 2, 2018 Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum Coeur d'Alene, Idaho October 14–15, 2018 Coeur d'Alene Resort Louisville, Kentucky October 22–24, 2018 Muhammad Ali Center New York City, New York October 29–30, 2018 Madison Square Garden Los Angeles, California November 8–10, 2018 Hollywood and Highland Center
Hollywood week
Hollywood week aired over two episodes on March 24 and 25 at the Orpheum Theatre. It featured three rounds: lines of ten, a group round, and a solo round. In the first round, each contestant sang individually, and after ten had sung, they gathered in a line. Those who impressed the judges and the producers were advanced to the next round, where the contestants performed together in groups of four or five. The contestants who passed the group rounds performed their final solos before advancing to the Showcase round.
Showcase round The Showcase round aired on March 31, and featured the top 40 performing for the judges and a live audience at Disney's Aulani resort in Kapolei, Hawaii. The following day, the judges narrowed the number of contestants down from 40 to 20. The following is a list of the contestants who reached the top 20 and the song they performed at the Showcase. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
+Showcase round (March 31) Contestant Song Alyssa Raghu "Dear Future Husband" Madison VanDenburg "Who's Lovin' You" Logan Johnson "Sorry" Dimitrius Graham "Latch" Ashley Hess "Gone Away" Laci Kaye Booth "Georgia on My Mind" Walker Burroughs "Youngblood" Ryan Hammond "A Song for You" Kate Barnette "Royals" Evelyn Cormier"No Roots" Uché "Play That Funky Music" Alejandro Aranda "Yellow" Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon "Landslide" Riley Thompson "Mama's Broken Heart" Shawn Robinson "Rock with You" Raquel Trinidad "Rich Girl" Bumbly "Baby" Wade Cota "Work Song" Eddie Island "Don't You Worry Child" Laine Hardy "Come Together"
Top 20 The Top 20 performed at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Each contestant performed one solo, and contestants are listed in the order they performed.
+Top 20 (April 1) Contestant Song Madison VanDenburg "Domino" Shawn Robinson "Jealous" Laine Hardy "Bring It On Home to Me" Uché "Figures" Eddie Island "Ho Hey" Evelyn Cormier "Leaving on a Jet Plane" Alyssa Raghu "Ain't It Fun" Ryan Hammond "You Say" Raquel Trinidad "Lovefool" Logan Johnson "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" Dimitrius Graham "Hello" Riley Thompson "Jolene" Walker Burroughs "How Deep Is Your Love" Bumbly "Vision of Love" Ashley Hess "Dreaming with a Broken Heart" Alejandro Aranda "I Fall Apart" Kate Barnette "Sunday Morning" Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon "Make You Feel My Love" Laci Kaye Booth "I Want You to Want Me" Wade Cota "All I Want"
All-Star duets The top 20 contestants were split into two groups of ten and each contestant performed one duet with a celebrity singer. The first group aired on April 7, and the second group on April 8. The judges then eliminated three contestants from each group, and the rest advanced to the top 14.
The artists who performed duets with the top 20 were Pat Benatar, Cynthia Erivo, Neil Giraldo, Lukas Graham, Ben Harper, Chris Isaak, Elle King, Lovelytheband, Julia Michaels, Jason Mraz, Shaggy, and Brett Young.
Bobby Bones served as a guest host for the April 8 episode, because Ryan Seacrest was out due to an illness.
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Contestants are listed in the order they performed. +Group 1 (April 7) Contestant Song Result Walker Burroughs "Have It All"(with Jason Mraz) Advanced Kate Barnette "Heartbreaker"(with Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo) Eliminated Riley Thompson "Like I Loved You"(with Brett Young) Advanced Uché "Habibi (I Need Your Love)"(with Shaggy) Advanced Madison VanDenburg "We Belong"(with Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo) Advanced Shawn Robinson "Proud Mary"(with Elle King) Eliminated Ashley Hess "I'm Yours"(with Jason Mraz) Advanced Bumbly "Angel"(with Shaggy) Eliminated Laci Kaye Booth "Mercy"(with Brett Young) Advanced Laine Hardy "The Weight"(with Elle King) Advanced+Group 2 (April 8) Contestant Song Result Alyssa Raghu "Issues"(with Julia Michaels) Advanced Eddie Island "7 Years"(with Lukas Graham) Advanced Wade Cota "Broken"(with lovelytheband) Advanced Ryan Hammond "Hold On, I'm Comin'"(with Cynthia Erivo) Eliminated Evelyn Cormier "Wicked Game"(with Chris Isaak) Advanced Logan Johnson "What a Time"(with Julia Michaels) Eliminated Raquel Trinidad "Tiny Dancer"(with lovelytheband) Eliminated Alejandro Aranda "There Will Be a Light"(with Ben Harper) Advanced Dimitrius Graham "Love Someone"(with Lukas Graham) Advanced Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon "Time After Time"(with Cynthia Erivo) Advanced
Top 14 The Top 14 performances aired on Sunday, April 14, followed by the live results show on Monday, April 15.
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Contestants are listed in the order they performed. +Top 14 (April 14) Contestant Song Result Laine Hardy "That's All Right" Advanced Evelyn Cormier "The Middle" Wild Card Alyssa Raghu "She Used to Be Mine" Wild Card Eddie Island "Bennie and the Jets" Wild Card Riley Thompson "Suds in the Bucket" Wild Card Wade Cota "Trouble" Advanced Dimitrius Graham "Perfect" Wild Card Madison VanDenburg "Fallin'" Advanced Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon "We All Fall in Love Sometimes" Advanced Uché "Finesse" Wild Card Alejandro Aranda "One Dance" Advanced Ashley Hess "Fix You" Wild Card Laci Kaye Booth "I Miss You" Advanced Walker Burroughs "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" Advanced+Top 14 (April 15) Contestant Song Result Madison VanDenburg "Yoü and I" Immune Evelyn Cormier "Dust in the Wind" Eliminated Walker Burroughs "Lovebug" Immune Riley Thompson "It Must Be Love" Eliminated Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon "Almost Heaven" Immune Alyssa Raghu "The One That Got Away" Advanced Wade Cota "Simple Man" Immune Dimitrius Graham "When the Party's Over" Advanced Laci Kaye Booth "As Long as You Follow" Immune Eddie Island "Use Somebody" Eliminated Ashley Hess "Sir Duke" Eliminated Laine Hardy "Hurricane" Immune Alejandro Aranda "Cholo Love" (original song) Immune Uché "Diamonds" Advanced
Top 10 contestants
Laine Hardy (born September 12, 2000) was from Livingston, Louisiana. He had originally auditioned for the sixteenth season, but only made it to the top 50. He sang "The Weight" in his audition this season. In Hollywood, he performed "She Talks to Angels" and "Proud Mary" as solos and "Grenade" as part of a group performance. After giving a performance of "Come Together" during the Showcase round, he advanced to the top 20. Alejandro Aranda (born August 11, 1994) was from Pomona, California. He auditioned in Los Angeles. He sang two original songs, one called "Out Loud" on the guitar and another called "Cholo Love" on the piano. In Hollywood, he performed in a group with Laci Kaye Booth, where he sang "Sorry" by Justin Bieber. For his final solo, he sang an original song called "Ten Years" and advanced to the top 40. Madison VanDenburg (born December 9, 2001) was from Cohoes, New York. She auditioned in New York with Dan + Shay’s "Speechless." She sang "Who's Lovin' You" during the Showcase round and advanced to the top 20. Laci Kaye Booth (born August 28, 1995) was from Livingston, Texas. She sang "Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard during her audition in Denver. In Hollywood, she sang "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin. She later performed in a group with Katie Belle, Laine Hardy, and Colby Swift, where they sang "Grenade" by Bruno Mars. For her final solo, she sang "Stars" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. She sang "Georgia on My Mind" by Ray Charles during the Showcase round to earn her spot in the top 20. Wade Cota (born August 26, 1991) was from Phoenix, Arizona. He had auditioned for American Idol nine years ago, but failed to receive a "yes." He auditioned this season in Los Angeles, where he sang "Blame It on Me" by George Ezra. In Hollywood, he sang "Litost" by the X Ambassadors and an original song named "Stay" as a solo. He later performed in a group, where he sang "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & the Papas and advanced despite forgetting the lyrics. Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon (born October 9, 1992) was from Catonsville, Maryland. He auditioned in New York with an original song called "Almost Heaven." He gave an emotional performance in Hollywood with "Beautiful" by Carole King and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack as his solos, where he made it to the top 40. He performed Elton John's "We All Fall in Love Sometimes" during the top 14 show. Walker Burroughs (born September 29, 1998) was from Birmingham, Alabama, but grew up originally in Louisville, Kentucky. He auditioned in Louisville with "Love Like This" by Ben Rector and "Hello" by Lionel Richie. In Hollywood, he sang "Whereabouts" by Stevie Wonder as his first solo and "Your Song" by Elton John as his final solo. After performing "Youngblood" by 5 Seconds of Summer, he advanced to the top 20. Alyssa Raghu (born March 2, 2002, as Alyssa Raghunandan) was from Orlando, Florida. She had auditioned for the sixteenth season, but cut at the top 24. She took several classes to improve her skills and then auditioned again this season in Los Angeles with "Shark in the Water" by V V Brown. She sang "What About Us" by Pink as her final solo in Hollywood, where she advanced to the top 40. Dimitrius Graham (born June 8, 1991) was from Baltimore, Maryland. His audition was not shown. He sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler as his first solo in Hollywood for the judges and his mother, who was about to have an operation, via cellphone. He then performed in a group, where he sang "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. Uché (born July 15, 1994, as Uchechukwu Walter Ndubizu-Egwim-Okoli) was from Sugar Land, Texas. He auditioned with "Ain't No Other Man," and he also sang Smokie Norful's "God Is Able" and talked about his musical influences. Uché sang "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara as his final solo in Hollywood.
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Top 10 – Disney (April 21) Rebel Wilson served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed one song from a Disney movie. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.