American Idol season 20 stand-out contestant, Kenedi Anderson dropped out of the competition after traveling to Hawaii with the Top 24 and filming a performance. Host Ryan Seacrest announced the news on Monday’s Top 24 episode (April 11), after airing Kenedi’s cover of Christina Perri’s “Human.”
“You might have noticed that there was no voting information during Kenedi’s performance just now since we taped these shows in Hawaii earlier,” said Ryan. “Kenedi has decided to withdraw from our show for personal reasons.”
“We send her well wishes and needless to say we have incredible talent on this historic season…,” Ryan said before introducing the next contestant.
“This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make”
Shortly after Ryan’s announcement aired, Kenedi dropped a message on social media. “For personal reasons I’m unable to continue on American Idol,” Kenedi wrote. “This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, but I know it’s necessary.”
Kenedi continued, “I’m so grateful to American Idol, the judges, the producers, the amazing contestants, and all the fans who have supported me. Thank you for giving me such an amazing opportunity to share my voice, chase my dreams, feel so much joy and happiness doing what I love, and make lifelong friends along the way.”
An update on @AmericanIdol ? pic.twitter.com/utRb2t95Mk
— Kenedi Anderson (@kenedianderson_) April 12, 2022
Rumors began swirling
American Idol fans were the first to notice something was off. While the Top 24 were gathered in Los Angeles preparing for the competition ahead, Kenedi had uploaded a Tik Tok video from what looked like her parents house.
Then, oddly, American Idol didn’t upload Kenedi’s Hollywood Week performances. It’s not because she wasn’t a contender. The teen singer had earned one of three “Platinum Tickets” in Los Angeles after a standout audition. The special perk allowed her to skip the first Hollywood Week round.
Kenedi promoted American Idol’s Hollywood Week on her socials. but after the Duet Challenge, her accounts went mostly silent. The Idol Pad folks who spoil lots of stuff reported that Kenedi did indeed drop out. We felt the evidence was pretty strong, so we detailed the rumor here.
Last year, two singers dropped out, one got disqualified
Last year, two singers dropped out during the course of season 19. Benson Boone dropped out after he made the Top 24, but before he performed. American Idol responded by never mentioning him again after his audition. The show replaced him in the Top 24 with an awkward Ryan Seacrest voice over announcing Analee List made the Top 24.
It was months before Benson explained why he dropped out. In reality, it boiled down to Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds’ interest in signing him to his Warner Bros. imprint. (I suspect the eminently commercial Kenedi may have dropped out for the same reason–interest from management or a record label.)
And then before Idol revealed the Season 19 Top 12, Ryan announced matter-of-factly that fan-favorite singer-songwriter Wyatt Pike left the show. Again, it took Wyatt months to address why he quit. For him, it boiled down to not being comfortable in a reality show format. He’s unsigned, but touring and releasing music.
Sad story
And at the season 19 Top 5, American Idol disqualified teen country singer Caleb Kennedy after a video surfaced of him sitting next to somebody wearing what looked like a KKK hood. And then Caleb’s story got much much sadder than getting kicked off a reality show.
Will contestants now use the American Idol platform to get themselves in front of label and management execs? It used to be Idol contracts were pretty onerous. But these days, social media affords many ways for an artist to promote themselves. Those contracts are looser than they used to be.
