{"id":117122,"date":"2024-02-16T12:01:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T12:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/magic\/2024\/02\/16\/this-season-american-idol-is-going-home\/"},"modified":"2024-02-16T12:01:27","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T12:01:27","slug":"this-season-american-idol-is-going-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/magic\/2024\/02\/16\/this-season-american-idol-is-going-home\/","title":{"rendered":"This season, ‘American Idol’ is going home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Disney\/Eric McCandless<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new season of\u00a0American Idol<\/em>\u00a0— which is technically its 22nd — gets underway February 18 on ABC, and host\u00a0Ryan Seacrest<\/strong>\u00a0says this time around, the show is going home. Or at least, back to\u00a0Lionel Richie<\/strong>,\u00a0Luke Bryan<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Katy Perry<\/strong>‘s homes.<\/p>\n

“We’re taking all of the judges back to their roots, back to their hometowns, and doing auditions in those hometowns,” Seacrest told ABC Audio about what viewers can expect. “Which has been great. I mean, Luke Bryan on his\u00a0high school stage<\/a>,\u00a0where he performed in high school. Katy in\u00a0Santa Barbara<\/a>, Lionel back in\u00a0Alabama<\/a>\u00a0… so I think that’ll be something that’s really interesting for the viewers to see.”<\/p>\n

More specifically, the\u00a0auditions<\/a>\u00a0will take place in Los Angeles, Nashville, Luke’s hometown of Leesburg, Georgia; Lionel’s hometown of Tuskegee, Alabama; and Katy’s hometown of Santa Barbara, California.\u00a0 Katy has said this will be her last year on\u00a0American Idol<\/em>; the current judging panel has been at it for seven seasons.<\/p>\n

Last season’s winner,\u00a0Iam Tongi,<\/strong>\u00a0has since released an EP and several singles, and toured with fellow contestant\u00a0Oliver Steele<\/strong>. Meanwhile, former\u00a0Idols<\/em>\u00a0continue to make their mark.<\/p>\n

Kelly Clarkson<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Jennifer Hudson<\/strong>\u00a0both have their own talk shows; Kelly was also recently nominated for a Grammy for her most recent album. Meanwhile,\u00a0Fantasia<\/strong>\u00a0is starring in the new movie version of\u00a0The Color Purple,<\/em>\u00a0Chris Daughtry<\/strong>\u00a0just topped\u00a0Billboard<\/em>‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart and\u00a0Carrie Underwood<\/strong>\u00a0has a successful Las Vegas residency at Resorts World.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plus,\u00a0Benson Boone<\/strong>, who made it to the Top 24 in Season 19 before dropping out of the show, currently has the #3 single on the\u00a0Billboard<\/em>\u00a0Hot 100<\/a>\u00a0with “Beautiful Things.”<\/p>\n