American Idol (season 17)

The seventeenth season of "American Idol" premiered on March 3, 2019 on the ABC television network. It is the show's second season to air on ABC. Ryan Seacrest continues his role as the show's host, while Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie returned for their second season as judges. Bobby Bones returned as the in-house mentor, and acted as guest host for the taped April 8, 2019 episode.
Laine Hardy from Livingston, Louisiana, won the season on May 19, 2019, while Alejandro Aranda was the runner-up, and Madison VanDenburg finished in third place. Hardy, who was cut at the Top 50 in season 16, became the third returning contestant to win, after Candice Glover in season 12 and Caleb Johnson in season 13.
Regional auditions.
"American Idol" announced in June 2018 that 20 cities would be visited by the "Idol" bus, beginning with Orlando, Florida and San Diego, California on August 25. Auditions may also be submitted on the official website, or on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. During the 2018 CMA Awards, three contestants who didn't enter the competition and didn't audition initially, were given a chance to enter the competition. The contestants were Cameron Lenz, Natalee Spiroff, and Meghan Woods. The winner of that vote was revealed to be Meghan Woods on "Good Morning America" on November 16, 2018. However, Meghan Woods wasn't shown in any episode.
Hollywood Week.
Hollywood Week aired over two episodes on March 24 and 25 at the Orpheum Theater. It featured three rounds: Lines of Ten, Group Round and Solo Round. In the first round, each contestant sang individually, and after ten sang, they gathered in a line. Those who impressed the judges advanced to the next round where the contestants perform in groups of three to five people, singing a song together. The remaining auditionees who passed through the group rounds performed their final solos to advance to the showcase round, held in Hawaii.
Showcase Round.
The Showcase Round aired on March 31, which featured the top 40 performing for the judges and a live audience at Aulani, a Disney Resort &amp; Spa in Ko Olina, Hawaii. The following day, the judges narrowed the number of contestants down from 40 to 20 in the Final Judgement.
The following is a list of the contestants who performed, the song they performed at the Showcase, and whether or not they made the Top 20:
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Top 20.
The Top 20 performed at Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and solo performances aired in one episode on April 1.
All-Star Duets (April 7 &amp; 8).
For All-Star Duets, contestants were split into two groups of ten. The first group aired on April 7 and the second group on April 8. After each contestant performed their duets, the judges selected seven contestants from each group to advance to the Top 14. "Idol" contestants were paired with celebrity singers as their duet partners. The artists who duetted with the first group included Jason Mraz, Brett Young, Shaggy, Pat Benatar &amp; Neil Giraldo, and Elle King. The artists who duetted with the second group included Cynthia Erivo, Lukas Graham, Julia Michaels, Ben Harper, Lovelytheband, and Chris Isaak.
Bobby Bones served as a guest host for the April 8 episode filling in for Seacrest who missed the taping due to illness.
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Top 14 (April 14 and 15).
The Top 14 performances were taped on April 12, 2019, and aired on Sunday, April 14, followed with the live results on Monday, April 15, 2019.
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Live shows.
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Week 1: Top 10 – Disney Night (April 21).
The Top 10 performed Disney songs on Sunday, April 21, 2019. Rebel Wilson served as a guest mentor.
Week 2: Top 8 – Queen Night / Movie Duets (April 28).
Adam Lambert served as a guest mentor, and all the top eight members sang Queen songs. All eight remaining contestants also paired as a duet and sang songs from a movie soundtrack.
Week 3: Top 6 - Woodstock / Showstoppers (May 5).
The remaining six contestants were asked to sing a song that from Woodstock Festival in 1969 and songs that inspired them, and American contemporary Christian singer/songwriter, Lauren Daigle was as guest mentor for this week.
Week 4: Top 5 - Elton John / Bobby Bones' Choice / Hero Dedications (May 12).
This week, each contestant performed three songs: a pick from in-house mentor, Bobby Bones; a song dedicated to their heroes; and a selection from Elton John's catalog.
Week 5: Finale (May 19).
This week, the Top 3 performed their two songs, one contestant was eliminated landing in 3rd place, based on the results up to that point. Voting continued for the remaining two contestants and closed after the two finalists sang their last songs.
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Elimination chart.
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