“American Idol” is getting closer to naming its next champion.
On Sunday night, the show revealed its top eight singers, eliminating two aspiring “Idol” winners from the competition. Voting from viewers during the live episode determined who from the top 10 moved on to the next round.
Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 round — and who made it through.
What happened during the ‘American Idol’ top 10 round?
During Sunday night’s episode, country music star Shania Twain mentored the top 10 contestants as they fought for a spot in the top eight. The top 10 singers performed songs from their respective birth years.
The episode also featured performances from past “Idol” winners Scotty McCreery and Just Sam. McCreery, a country singer from North Carolina, won Season 10 of “Idol” in 2011. Just Sam, a subway singer from Harlem, New York, won the show in 2020 — and she’s the only winner in the show’s history to be crowned remotely as “Idol” had to make major adjustments during the early months of the pandemic, the Deseret News previously reported.
The “American Idol” top 10 round aired April 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. MDT on ABC. The top eight was revealed at the end of the episode.
Who is in the ‘American Idol’ top 8?
Going into Sunday night’s episode, the following singers were in the top 10, as the Deseret News reported.
- McKenna Faith Breinholt.
- Jack Blocker.
- Mia Matthews.
- Sam “Kayko” Kelly-Cohen.
- Will Moseley.
- Abi Carter.
- Kaibrienne Richins.
- Emmy Russell.
- Julia Gagnon.
- Triston Harper.
The following two singers were eliminated during Sunday night’s episode:
- Mia Matthews.
- Kayko.
How to vote for the ‘American Idol’ top 8
The voting window for the top 10 round took place during Sunday night’s episode and closed during the final commercial break, according to idolvote.abc.com. The voting window will be the same for Monday’s episode, which will determine who from the top eight advances to the top seven.
There are three ways to vote on “American Idol”:
- Vote online at idolvote.abc.com (fans must create an account to vote).
- Vote via the “American Idol” app, which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play Store.
- Vote via text. During each “Idol” episode, a contestant will have a specific number that can be texted to “21523.”
Viewers can submit up to 10 votes per voting method per contestant, according to idolvote.abc.com.
What happens during the ‘American Idol’ top 8 round?
During Monday night’s episode, each of the top eight contestants will choose one of three songs to perform — each anonymously selected by judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, who are competing for the most songs chosen, according to a TV listing for the episode.
Live voting during the episode will determine who makes the top six. The judges will then vote to keep one other contestant in the competition to round out the top seven.
The top eight episode will also feature a tribute to Mandisa, a Grammy-winning Christian and gospel singer who died on April 18 at the age of 47, The Tennessean reported. Mandisa placed ninth on the fifth season of “American Idol.”