American Idol alum Tori Kelly will mentor the season 22 Top 24 contestants in Hawaii
UPDATE: Grammy nominated country singer Jelly Roll will also be mentoring Top 24 contestants as they compete on Feb 7 and Feb 8 at the Disney Aulani Resort in Hawaii. Last season, Jelly Roll performed a duet with contestant Oliver Steele (alongside Lainey Wilson) for the American Idol 2023 finale.
Tori Kelly is returning to American Idol 2024 to mentor the contestants who made it as far as the season 22 Top 24. On social media on Monday, American Idol announced the singer’s appearance as a guest mentor.
“From IDOL hopeful to IDOL mentor! ? Ray of sunshine @torikelly is at @disneyaulani to help our rising stars light up the stage!” the caption alongside an instagram post reads.
It’s not the first time Tori has mentored American Idol Top 24 contestants. Back in 2021 for season 19, Tori mentored and performed duets with the contestants.
American Idol Top 24 set to film at the Disney Aulani Report February 7 and 8
The Top 24 contestants are set to perform at the Disney Aulani resort on Wednesday February 7 and Thursday February 8. If you are in Hawaii, On Camera Audiences are offering tickets to the event, which traditionally takes place at an outdoors stage. Check out all the details HERE. Filming begins at 4:30 local time on both days.
American Idol 2024 1st Look: McKenna Breinholt Emotional Surprise
Last year, a Top 26 competed in Hawaii. On Camera Audiences revealed the number of contestants on teir site. However, consider that the Top 24 is a crossroads for many contestants. Some choose to drop out at this stage. Kenedi Anderson, for instance, performed at Top 24 in 2022, but by the time the show aired, she had dropped out already. In 2023, Beckett Rex was spotted making the Top 24. But he quit before the shows filmed in Hawaii. Eliminated contestant Paige Anne took his place.
American Idol 2024 Top 55 performed in front of a live audience. See the spoilers
After the Top 55 contestants sang for judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan and in front of a live audience shortly after the Hollywood Round back in December, the judes chose the Top 24. The filming took place at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica.
Check out the list of Top 55 contestants and their Showstopper round song spoilers HERE.
Judges Auditions took place in five “hometowns”
The theme of the new season is “hometowns” as five audition cities include Los Angeles, Nashville and each of the judges’ hometowns: Leesburg, Georgia for Luke, Santa Barbara, California for Katy and Tuskegee, Alabama for Lionel. The key art and promo revolves around a Wizard of Oz theme, with Katy as Dorothy, etc. Ryan Seacrest will once again serve as host.
Tori Kelly made it to Hollywood Week in season 9, when she was just a teen. Unfortunately, the talented singer got cut right before the Top 24 round. Nevertheless, she found success on social media and eventually signed a record deal.
American Idol 2024 premieres on ABC, Sunday February 18 at 8 pm ET/PT.
