Lionel Richie revealed how ‘American Idol’ picks its winner — and talent might have nothing to do with it
The grand finale of 'American Idol' Season 23 is quickly approaching! In the highly anticipated finale set to take place on May 18, 2025, the Top 3 finalists, Breanna Nix, Jamal Roberts, and John Foster, will be seen performing for one last time on the stage of the ABC singing competition to win the coveted title. A large majority of 'American Idol' fans feel that the contender with the best singing skills among the three will gain the highest number of votes during the live finale and eventually win the show. However, recently, judge Lionel Richie made a daring statement about how the winner of the popular singing show will be chosen.
During his latest interview with People magazine, Richie mentioned that the winner of 'American Idol' Season 23 may not be the most talented singer, but it will be the contestant with a big following among the fans of the singing show. "It's an even playing field, but it comes down to popularity. How many fans do they have that like them as people?" the 'All Night Long' hitmaker told the media publication.
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The 'American Idol' judge further elaborated, "Right now, singing cover songs is great, but when they have their own hit records, you start building their career. Right now, they're falling in love with the artist." According to Richie, the popularity of a contestant among the viewers will play a pivotal role during the finale. On the other hand, when we talk about Richie's fellow judge Luke Bryan, he stated that he has a 'gut feeling' about the winner. "My gut has told me Jamal has... [been] a lead all year," Bryan quipped.
Additionally, Bryan also addressed that at the end of the day, it's up to America to vote and advised the contestants to stay focused. Talking about Nix and Foster, who are among the Top 3 finalists vying for the winner's title, the 'That's My Kind of Night' crooner said, "When you look at every time Breanna gets through, we're like, 'She keeps showing up and making it happen.' And then John Foster just seems to be gaining momentum."
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Bryan continued, "Even if it's something that Jamal's kind of had the reins of, it could change with a little bit of not focusing... so they gotta be focused all the way to the end. The music business is never like that. You've gotta focus every day." At last, Carrie Underwood, who previously won the fourth season of 'American Idol' in 2005, motivated the finalists to stay focused by saying, "We've had a condensed season. It was a lot longer when I was on the show. So they're running to catch up the whole time."
The 'Jesus, Take The Wheel' singer went on to say, "I would imagine they feel more frenzied than I felt about the whole situation. It's a totally different blockout. You're going to be doing a lot, going back to their own towns, and everyone's going to be on them. This is kind of a taste of what the rest of their career is gong to be like. We always call this star boot camp because you learn a lot really fast."
