'American Idol' Season 4: Air dates, judges, host and all you need to know about singing competition's renewed season on ABC
The two-hour 'American Idol' finale will be airing at 8 pm this Sunday, May 17, as the hunt for America's top singing talent reaches its epic conclusion. Although the future of the singing competition had been cast into jeopardy thanks to the recent coronavirus outbreak in recent months, the show decided to plow ahead with a special remote access home edition in April 2020. This meant that the Top 20 contestants and mainstays such as host Ryan Seacrest, mentor Bobby Bones and judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie all appeared for the elimination episodes from their homes through satellite link, as the singing aspirants were voted into the next rounds by the watching American public.
The Season 18 finale will be contested by the surviving Top 7, comprising standouts Arthur Gunn, Dillon James, Francisco Martin, Jonny West, Julia Gargano, Just Sam and Louis Knight. Two singers will be immediately eliminated at the start of the finale, while the Top 5 will compete for nationwide votes in real-time before the winner is eventually crowned by 10 pm ET. Make sure you tune in by then for MEA WorldWide's (MEAWW) coverage of this exciting event.
Now that the show has been renewed for its fourth season on the ABC network, here's everything you need to know about the new season:
Air dates
The ABC network will start showing their fourth season of the 'American Idol' reboot starting from February 2021, with the audition rounds set to occur a few months before that (Covid-19 permitting). This will be the 19th season overall for the celebrated singing competition, which has contributed its fair share of chart-busting artistes to the music industry over the past two decades, including Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Adam Lambert, Clay Aiken, David Cook, Chris Daughtry, and Alejandro Aranda aka Scarypoolparty.
What we can expect next year?
As usual, we can expect to see a veritable smorgasbord of young singing talent in 2021 as well. The show prides itself on selecting singers who are guaranteed to resonate with a large section of the watching American audience. The show still gets a massive following on social media and is incredibly popular with its key demographic of adults aged 18-49.
It won't just be about great singer-songwriters next year as 'American Idol' has notably done in the past, the show will also feature some hilariously bad performances as well. The producers will definitely be showcasing some freakishly deluded and terrible singers from the audition rounds, which generally adds to the hilarity and hysteria of the opening weeks.
Who will return next year?
Just like in the past 3 years, we're expecting to see familiar faces such as longtime host Ryan Seacrest, show mentor Bobby Bones and the returning judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. However, since Katy Perry is currently pregnant with her child as Season 18 draws to a close, it remains to be seen if she will be returning next year — as of now, it's anyone's guess if all the judges will be reprising their roles.
Creators
The show's longtime producers are Fremantle and Industrial Media's 19 Entertainment. Showrunner Trish Kinane, Jennifer Mullin and Megan Wolflick serve as executive producers for Fremantle with Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman serving as executive producers for 19 Entertainment. Fremantle distributes the popular series worldwide for syndication.
Where to watch it
You can watch Season 19 of 'American Idol' on the ABC network in 2021 in its usual weekend primetime slot. Starting from February next year, we can expect them to air episodes every Sunday and Monday night at 8 pm ET, although this might be subject to change if there are scheduling conflicts.
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