It is a fierce competition of vocal skill and raw emotion on American Idol 2025, as this season’s Top 10 contestants embark on a journey towards music immortality. The showdown reaches its peak intensity after yet another live episode, this time with over 22 million votes pouring into the portal at AmericanIdol.com. From gospel wonders to country singers, these contestants encompass all facets of America’s musical identity. The following is the breakdown of their journeys, the voting revolution changing the show, and the events with Carrie Underwood shedding tears.
The Top 10: Where They Came From
1. John Foster (28, Nashville, TN)
This winning bearded country crooner worked construction before auditioning with Chris Stapleton’s Tennessee Whiskey. His burly voice and blue-collar appeal have made him a heartland favorite.
2. Josh King (19, Austin, TX)
A Berklee College dropout and possessing perfect pitch, King’s operatic take on Queen’s Somebody to Love during Hollywood Week went viral, garnering 8.2 million views on YouTube.
3. Jamal Roberts (24, Detroit, MI)
This one-time choir master triumphed over living in a shelter and proceeded to stun the world with his four-octave vocal range. A Judge’s standing ovation was as rare as a standing ovation for Lionel Richie during his auditions where he performed “Rise.”
4. Mattie Pruitt (21, Asheville, NC)
The mesmerizing indie folk songwriter wowed the nation when she took Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” and put her twist on it, with Kat Perry dubbing the young star “this generation’s Joan Baez.”
5. Thunderstorm Artis (26, Haleiwa, HI)
Soul artist made waves when he returned after being eliminated in Season 18, and it was his reinvention of blending R&B grooves with Hawaiian falsetto put him on the streaming charts.
6. Slater Nalley (23, Muscle Shoals, AL)
The New Orleans Jazz Institute graduate blew open the doors of the music industry by securing full conversations with media due to his unprescended scatting that once put Luke Bryan in disbelief and earned his Ella Fitzgerald tribute the season’s first 10 perfect scores from judges.
7. Gabby Samone (25, New Orleans, LA)
The guitarist, singer, and songwriter Gabby Samone, seasoned with a touch of jazz, is carving an unparalleled path with the jazz conservatory graduate who blew Luke Bryan off with her scat.
8. Canaan James Hill (22, Atlanta, GA)
The defender of the public with a five-octave range captured the gospel roots champion Hill after his TikTok funnelled him to 4.3 million followers.
9. Kolbi Jordan (18, Seattle, WA)
The trending performer of the season who was most Shazam’d globally was self-taunted Ukulele master Kolbi Jordan, whose rendition of “Over the Rainbow” blew everyone away.
10. Breanna Nix (27, Chicago, IL)
After a car accident with nearly life-ending consequences, Nix’s story of having her vocal cords damaged was inspirational. Now, her runs have #BreannaBelievers rallying to the cause.
Voting Changes: How Elections Work in America
American Idol had its season with unprecedented changes to voting style.
- Live Vote Tracking: On performance day, viewers can see live vote percentages on the Idol app while casting their votes, which amplifies their importance.
- Text Vote Weighting: Votes by SMS are now worth twice as much compared to online votes, a shift aimed at appealing to older audiences.
- Judge’s Save Expansion: Every judge now has one “Golden Mic” each to save a contestant until the top 5.
Cumulative Voting Analysis:
- Blazed Nix leads the voting with 18%, thanks to his church connections and Gen Z TikTok followers.
- Slater Nalley’s southern fanbase manually delivered 12% of the votes through a concentrated vote-by-text strategy.
- Jordan’s youth appeal gained him 9%, and vote analytics from AmericanIdol.com showed that 63% of supporting voters were under 25.
Fantasia’s Masterclass: The Gospel Truths
We were happy to see Fantasia Barrino return for a mentor session. She worked with the contestants, explaining to them how to execute the following:
Soul Anchoring: This is where you can use your diaphragm to sustain the gospel runs. She demonstrated it using “Amazing Grace” by Aretha Franklin.
Storytelling Through Silence: She encouraged Jamal Roberts to refrain from singing until hitting the climax with four beats during the ‘Heal,’ which was tense.
Vulnerability as Strength: In ‘Because of You,’ when Mattie Pruitt’s performance received the most streams from the night (which is a 350% increase on Spotify), she channelled her mother’s cancer battle in, and Fantasia called it “the most streamed”.
Canaan James Hill’s duet with Fantasia on “Have Your Way” went immediately viral for melding conventional gospel with trap beats. At the show’s height, 12.4 million viewers watched live, which is a massive success for this risky blend.
Carrie Underwood’s Emotional Confession
During Breanna Nix’s performance of “I Will Always Love You,” Carrie Underwood, in her own words, became emotional during the feedback. She expressed:
“After my win, I had months where I couldn’t sing. The pressure was paralyzing. What are you doing here with the comeback? That’s the definition of an Idol winner.”
In her own words, Underwood later revealed backstage that she mentors Josh King about Christian music’s approach, using mainstream pop, drawing on her experience with Jesus, and Take the Wheel.
Elimination Fallout: The Contestants and Their Outgoing Innovations
In the episode that aired on April 28, Filo (17, San Diego) and Che Chesterman (29, NYC) were eliminated from the competition. Critical elimination blunders included:
Filo’s pitchy, high-note delivery on the zipperless Billie Eilish synth-pop love song Happier Than Ever is complicated by a misguided key and clash arrangement.
Che’s over-the-top interpretation of Bohemian Rhapsody described Lionel Richie as Vegas showmanship in Idol vocals.
Fuddy duddy analysis of the voting: Is this Goodbye-style winning?
Winners Identified: What’s Special
Unique American Idol winner’s data reveals the following:
A. Average age per season: Finalist with “Idol Season 20” wins a whopping 23.7 years (plus Saniyah, minus Kolbi Jordan and Josh King).
B. Genre: Cuss are eligible to claim 38% of the seasons, while B-and Soul Rising are dominating the streaming era (advantage fine, Jamal and Canaan)
C. Majority Voter Base: 65% female voters, 55% aged over 35 (Advantage: John Foster’s country fanbase.)
Upcoming Themes:
• Judges’ Songbook (May 5): Participants perform songs from Lionel, Katy and Luke.
• Fan Dedications (May 12): Fans select one song for their favorite performer, who gets to perform the song in question.
• Hometown (May 19): Recollecting traces and stories of contestants’ places of birth and origins, including Slater Nalley’s jam at Fame Studios.
Your Effortless Steps toward Idol Master Voting
1. Deadline Watching: 70% of the vote share is cast from 8:30 to 9:00 PM EST during the peak performance moments.
2. Text Splitting: Vote via text for the same contestant, so they all bundle the ten votes toward one contestant.
3. Hashtag Overdrive: This gets amplified by Idol’s social handle during those hours. Hence, using #Vote[Name] and tweeting between 8 PM and 10 PM EST gets Idol’s attention, subscriber-wise.
Who do We Think Will Come on Top?
• Soft Odds: Canaan James Hill from the south for his gospel base, Josh King, the emoter of his idol and technical judge, performers.
• Potential Surprises: Kolbi Jordan, sharp from Gen Z Flood, Slater Nalley with a Southern strategy.
• With Risk: Gabby Samone with a niche of jazz seducing mainstream voters.
We still believe in idols for 23 seasons, reminding us why: Canaan, Jamal’s 4-octave scream for the marginalized, the Slater boot authenticity, and Breanna’s persistence. All those captivate a world of auto-tune and algorithms, where humanity should be King.
As American Idol 2025 races towards the finale on May 26, we cultivate facts on reality where relational touch in auto-tuned worlds shines.
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