American Idol has been at the forefront of pop culture for two decades and counting. The show introduced us to Kelly Clarkson, who has become an icon in her own right. We’ve also seen the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Daughtry, and Carrie Underwood all come from this legendary competition.
Not that Idol has been on the air for a long time, those behind the show aren’t afraid to switch things up. Judge Katy Perry recently left the show to focus on her latest album and tour. Carrie Underwood was brought in as her replacement and has been giving the contestants advice during the latest season. However, one voting change has brought some concerns regarding what it could mean for the contestants.
American Idol Gives Viewers Less Time To Vote And Switches Over To Live Voting
On April 27, 2025, the 23rd season of American Idol aired yet another live show. However, the episode came with one major announcement and one major voting change. The contestants were mentored by music legend James Taylor and performed songs by inductees of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. To further celebrate the episode’s theme, host Ryan Seacrest announced the artists who made the 2025 class of inductees.
Prior to the episode’s airing, the contestants made their fans aware of a huge change to the show’s voting process. The episode began the process of live voting during the episode, rather than giving viewers until the following morning to cast their votes. As a result, viewers were given less than two hours to vote, and the top 12 were revealed before the episode ended.
This isn’t the first time Ryan has had the honor of revealing which artists will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The popular host actually had the honor of announcing the inductees the previous year, so 2025 will be his second year doing so. American Idol partnered with the Hall of Fame and had inductee Gene Simmons, the lead singer of KISS, mentor contestants in an episode. Current judge Lionel Richie, who is also an inductee, assisted Ryan in making the announcement last year.
The artists who were nominated for this year’s list of Hall of Fame inductees included Mariah Carey, who famously had a role as a judge on Idol in 2013 during Season 12. However, she didn’t get enough votes to be inducted. The other artists who were nominated included Phish, Outkast, Oasis, Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper, Joy Division/New Order, Soundgarden, the White Stripes, Joe Cocker, Bad Company, Black Crowes, Chubby Checker, and Maná.
According to Rolling Stone, the artists who were nominated this year had to have their first single or album released in 2000 or earlier. Variety reported that the band Phish won the fan vote with 330,000 fans showing their support. However, this didn’t guarantee their induction and the band still didn’t get in. The outlet explained that the fan vote is the equivalent of one ballot, with 1,200 other ballots still cast by “industry insiders.”
Many suspected the top 14 contestants would be posting on every social media outlet they could to remind followers to vote them into the top 12. This was obviously due to there being less time for the fans to cast their vote. This was especially risky, given that people rarely watch live television anymore and prefer to stream shows on their own time.
On April 25, contestant Thunderstorm Artis posted on his social media to remind his followers to vote.
He wrote, “Hey Storm Chasers‼ This Sunday AND Monday they are eliminating 2 people per day. So a total of 4 people.🤯 VOTING will begin at 5pm PST – 6:50pm PST. So voting only lasts the duration of the live show and they announce votes at the end of the show!”
Gabby Samone was another contestant who reminded her fans of this change as well, posting on Instagram, “We’re going LIVE 🌊coast-to-coast 🌊 for the first time ever, so remember those votes early as soon as the show starts if you want to see me in the #TOP12! 🕐”
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Viewers have the usual three methods of voting, and are able to cast 10 votes per contestant, per platform. They can vote through the Idol website, the Idol app, and by texting an individual contestant’s unique number to 21523. This all needs to be done during the less-than-two-hour timeframe during the episode.
Carrie Underwood Has Joined Idol As A Judge, Replacing Katy Perry
Prior to Carrie joining the judges panel, Katy Perry was a judge on American Idol. In October 2024, ABC announced that Carrie would be joining the show, replacing Katy. Carrie has two kids with husband Mike Fisher, and she revealed to E! News about how her family reacted to the news.
“This morning, I was talking to them as they were going to school,” she told the outlet. “He thinks I’m singing somewhere. So, he’s like, ‘God, please give her all the right words and help her sing great.’ And Mike was like, ‘She’s not singing.’ And then he was like, ‘Okay, give her wisdom.'”
“He has no clue which I kind of love,” Carrie added. “They don’t really know what I do. They do, but they don’t, which I love. I’m mom to them, but I think they’re going to understand when they start seeing episodes.”
Carrie won American Idol in its fourth season, and sitting at the judges’ table certainly seems like a full-circle moment. Carrie has said that this is a dream come true. She opened up about the opportunity while attending SiriusXM’s Music Row Happy Hour in Las Vegas in August 2024. “I like to think that I am versatile,” Carrie explained. “Hopefully, when I listen to people come and audition, I can have any lens I need to put on in terms of what music I’m thinking.”
“I think I can be honest and constructive but still kind,” she went on. “And I think that’s the whole point, because people are coming in and it’s dreams. You’re part of somebody’s story from that moment on.”
Kelly Clarkson, who won the very first season of the show, told E! News that she was very happy for Carrie. “I think that’s brilliant,” Kelly said. “What better person to have than somebody that’s won that show to come back.” Kelly also said that Carrie would be a great person for the contestants to listen to, since she’s been in their shoes. “To have somebody to look at and go, ‘Okay, they’ve done it and they’re sitting right there. That means I am capable of doing it. I can dream that big,'” she said.
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Lionel Ritchie, who now sits alongside Carrie at the judges’ table, also talked to E! News about her joining the show. “It makes a lot of sense,” he said. “It’s not someone we have to get used to. And the fact that she has a great story, she came from American Idol. What a great judge, now we don’t have to explain anymore, ‘We know how you feel.’ As artists, we know how you feel, but we’ve never been in that oval that says, American Idol. She’s been there, done that.'”
Katy Perry Has Hinted That She Might Return To Idol Sometime In The Future
Prior to Carrie joining the show, Lionel spoke about Idol while on Jimmy Kimmel Live. During the chat, the singer revealed that he didn’t know who would be taking Katy’s place.
“You know, they are keeping tight-lipped because I don’t even know, but I’m telling you… It’s gonna be really interesting,” Lionel told Jimmy. “Only because, I’m telling you something, this is a great show. And what I love most of all is that we’re artists, so we know what we’re talking about, and these kids are scared to death, so I love sitting there as the wise poo-bahs, the three of us, and we’re sitting there and we’re all kind of giving information that we know is real.”
He continued, “So whoever’s coming on the show has got to be, well, to come past Katy, you’ve gotta be humorous forever, and, on top of that, knowledgeable.”
Jimmy also spoke with Katy herself about her departure when she was a guest on his show. He asked the pop star if there would be a “coronation ceremony” when she made her exit. “Let’s just say I’m creating space for my new wingspan,” she joked. Katy also suggested that she might be returning to the judges’ table in the future. “Maybe I’ll come back if they’ll have me one day!” she said.
“I’m sure they’ll be very happy to have you, and if it turns out you want to come back, I’m sure they’ll fire whoever replaces you,” Jimmy quipped. Katy made similar statements when speaking on Good Morning America right before she finished her run on Idol. During the interview, she was asked what qualities she wanted in a replacement judge.
“Just someone that can put up with Luke and Lionel,” Katy said, before adding, “Keep my seat warm.” As the interview continued, Katy continued to hint that she might not be leaving the show for good, explaining that she was saying goodbye “for now.”
Katy revealed that being a judge on American Idol “healed my heart.” When asked to comment on her fellow judges, she said, “It’s been incredible to be on this journey with them.”
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Katy also said that even though she would be leaving Idol, she didn’t have any plans to take a break. “I feel so connected to America that I want to go out there again and sing and play music and hold their hands and [tour] and bring my daughter and show her and all that stuff,” she revealed when questioned what she had planned after her final season ended.
