It was the series' final season to air on Fox. Despite the announcement that the series would be ending, ABC announced in May 2017 that they would revive American Idol.[3]
Changes from previous seasons
For the first time, performances by the top 24 were judged solely by the show's judges and producers, who determined which contestants were eliminated. From each group of twelve, seven were advanced and five were eliminated, resulting in a top 14 for the third week of the semifinals.
The voting limit for this season was set at ten votes per contestant per voting method, half of what it had been the previous season.[4]
The top 24 semifinalists were split into two groups of twelve, and were filmed at The Vibiana in Los Angeles, California. Each round consisted of back-to-back performances: each contestant sang one solo in the episode that aired on Wednesday, and one duet with an American Idol alumnus in the episode that aired on Thursday.[14][15]
Color key:
This contestant was chosen by the public.
This contestant was chosen by the judges.
This contestant was chosen by the judges to compete in the Wild Card round.
This contestant was eliminated.
Top 24 (Group 1)
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Following the judges' selection of four contestants to advance to the Finals,[16] the remaining ten semifinalists competed for the viewers' votes. Six of them advanced to complete the final group of ten.[17] Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Trent Harmon (born October 8, 1990) was from Amory, Mississippi. He auditioned in Little Rock, singing "Unaware" by Allen Stone. When Harmon suffered mononucleosis during Hollywood Week, he continued by singing Sam Smith's "Lay Me Down" as his first solo.[18] In the group round, he was not able to perform with the other contestants due to his illness, and the producers allowed him to perform a solo to advance.[19] He earned a spot in the top 24 during Showcase Week after performing Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."[20]
MacKenzie Bourg (born September 11, 1992) was from Lafayette, Louisiana. He auditioned at Atlanta by performing a medley of songs by the judges. He sang his original song, "Roses," as his final solo to advance to the Showcase round.[27] He advanced to the top 24 after he performed "Can't Help Falling in Love".[20]
Olivia Rox performed "Trouble" and Gianna Isabella performed "If I Ain't Got You," but they were eliminated based on the previous week's votes. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Sia and Stevie Van Zandt served as guest mentors this week. Contestants performed two songs: a classic rock song and a song from Sia's discography. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Each contestant performed three songs: one dedicated to the finalists' hometowns, one chosen by mentor Scott Borchetta, and one chosen by the judges.[35] Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Taylor Hicks & LaToya London with Clark Beckham, Melinda Doolittle, Candice Glover, Mikalah Gordon, Danny Gokey, George Huff, Joshua Ledet, Brandon Rogers & Elliott Yamin
Melinda Doolittle & Candice Glover with Clark Beckham, James Durbin, Danny Gokey, Mikalah Gordon, Taylor Hicks, George Huff, Joshua Ledet, Blake Lewis, Kimberley Locke, Brandon Rogers, Jordin Sparks, Elliott Yamin & American Idol Top 10
The fifteenth season premiered to 10.96 million viewers, the second lowest since the series premiere. It received an all-time-low 3.0/9 18–49 rating, down 9% from last season. The season finale however had 13.30 million viewers, 5 million more than the fourteenth season finale.[36][37]
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