'American Idol' Season 18 Finale: Top 5 contestants are here as Louis Knight and Julia Gargano get eliminated
'American Idol' Season 18 Grand Finale is now underway on the ABC network. This marks the end of the journey for the Top 5 contestants who remain and the millions of 'American Idol' viewers who have faithfully tuned in every week to catch up with their favorite singing aspirants. As tonight's final episode began, we said goodbye to the Top 7 contestants who didn't make the cut after the viewer votes were tallied. Sadly, the talented Louis Knight and Julia Gargano were eliminated and thanked everyone for the amazing journey they had been on thus far.
That means that our Top 5 performers for Season 18 are now officially performing for our votes. Arthur Gunn, Francisco Martin, Dillon James, Jonny West, and Just Sam were all excited to make it to the last voting rounds and decided to pull out all the stops for their final performances. Each contestant gets two special performances this time around, with the first shot being the song they most wanted to celebrate with, and the second rendition being their most memorable song that they had already performed on the show, which the contestants would release as their winner's single if they managed to win it all.
Dillon James sang 'Change The World' by Eric Clapton and then 'The Times They Are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan, with the judges commending the spiritual cowboy on his stellar journey so far. Francisco sang 'Adore You' by Harry Styles and then 'Alaska' by Maggie Rogers, and the judges were really pleased with how he had conquered his anxiety and become a strong performer as the season progressed.
Just Sam sang 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)' by Kelly Clarkson and then 'Rise Up' by Andra Day, with the judges marveling at her growth and transformation on the series. Arthur Gunn rocked a version of 'I Don't Wanna Be' by Gavin DeGraw and followed that up with his original spin on 'Have You Ever Seen The Rain' by Creedence Clearwater revival. The judges were blown away by his superstar quality and humble demeanor.
Jonny West did a mellow version of 'Cant Keep A Good Man Down' by James & Bobby Purify, and then followed that up with a glorious version his own original song called 'Makin' Love'. The impressed judges were really glad that the quiet young man had conquered his self-doubts and had made the final step up for this glorious culmination of all his hard work.
So now that the voting rounds have closed, we're soon going to see who the 'American Idol' viewers have crowned as their champion. We can't wait to see what America decided.