American Idol has officially been renewed for a fifth season on ABC and 20 seasons in total, counting the FOX years.The news comes as no surprise, considering that host Ryan Seacrest announced on the show last week that auditions for next season would be announced soon. Deadline broke the news on Thursday (May 13).
No official judges announcement, but ABC is confident the cast will return for season 20
Unsurprisingly, there is no official news on whether judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie and host Ryan Seacrest will return. But reportedly ABC is “confident that they will back for next year.” Deadline points out that last season, the show was renewed in May and the judges were re-signed in August. Judges announcements coming later in the summer was pretty typical in the FOX years as well.
ABC said that American Idol is averaging 9.4M viewers after 35 days of delayed viewing across linear and digital platforms and that it ranks as the number one series in its two-hour time slot and the season’s number four unscripted series with total viewers. “ABC says” is the operative phrase here. Network TV continues to take ratings hits. American Idol, The Voice and The Masked Singer have all taken ratings hits this season. Final overnight ratings for the Sunday May 9 episode were 0.85 in the key 18-49 demo and 5.7 million overall viewers.
It’s been a crazy season
The good news comes on the heels of a crazy spate of events. On Wednesday (May 12), American Idol disqualified teen country singer Caleb Kennedy after a video surfaced of him sitting with a man wearing what looks like a K*K*K hood. Previously, singer-songwriter Wyatt Park abruptly dropped out of the competition without an explanation at the Top 16. Also, after leaving the competition at the Top 24, Cecil Ray was charged with burglary within a week of leaving the show. And going back even further, Tik Tok star Benson Boone reportedly made the Top 24, and then quit.
This Sunday (May 16) the Top 4–Willie Spence, Chayce Beckham, Casey Bishop and Grace Kinstler–will perform their winners singles. Additionally, the contestants will dedicate a song to their personal heros. And, the quartet will pair up for performances of songs by producer with Finneas. The Billie Eilish sibling and collaborator will also perform alongside the finalists.
