The American Idol season 21 Top 26 is revealed, but not without a few twists. First, the judges–Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan–teased a Top 24 all through Hollywood and the Showstoppers round. At the end of Monday’s episode, three fan favorite singers sat in front of the judges to hear a verdict. ONLY ONE SPOT LEFT IN THE TOP 24 said. A true fact! But PSYCH. Colin Stough, Matt Wilson and Iam Tonga all advanced to the semi-finals as the judges expanded the Top 24 into a Top 26.
But wait a minute! The show only revealed 25 contestants. Who is number 26? With some digging, it appears that a contestant, most likely Beckett Rex, singer songwriter and son of British actor Malcolm McDowell dropped out/left the competition. Eagle eyes can spot him in photos (He’s the red haired dude standing in the back in the picture above) and videos of the singers celebrating their triumph.
Allen Stone and Noah Cyrus will serve as Top 26 mentors
Spoilers say Paige Anne, eliminated after a sing-off with Megan Danielle, filmed the Top 26 rounds in Hawaii. She also appears briefly in the preview for next week’s shows. According to Spoilers, Paige will appear on night 2. While Allen Stone will mentor Night 1 airing Sunday April 16, Noah Cyrus will mentor Night 2 set for Monday April 17.
It’s worth noting that the Showstopper round filmed in December right after Hollywood, while the Top 26 headed to the Disney Aulani Resort in Hawaii to film the round in February, close to the American Idol 2/19 premiere. Several months for Beckett to decide to drop out. Or American Idol to disqualify him. Or maybe a particularly nasty case of COVID kept him sidelined. Will we ever find out? Stay tuned.
Anyway! I added Paige to the poll, because although American Idol hasn’t confirmed she’s a Top 26 contestant, the evidence says that she is. We’re sticking to that.
UPDATE: The Disney Press Site uploaded a photo of Paige to the episode page. So, CONFIRMED!
A couple of things:
Should the Platinum Ticket continue?
The Platinum ticket was pretty big bust this year. Only two out of four ticket holder advanced to the Top 26–Elijah McCormick and Tyson Vegegas. Cam Amen and Kaylin Hedges were cut at Showstoppers. Cam appeared to wilt under pressure, while Kaylin’s youth caught up to her. Some singers have a fantastic audition and then never live up to their promise, while others come up like a dark horse later in the competition. I am agnostic about continuing Platinum Tickets. They don’t add much value, but they don’t hurt either. Well, maybe the undo pressure on a contestant who nabs won might mess with their heads.
I put up a judges poll. I have a feeling the “suck” category will win the day. But it’s worth considering that fans have hated every judges panel starting with the original three: Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.
