The American Idol semifinal round has been more complicated than it needed to be. The Top 24 were split between two weeks of performances. On Wednesday they sang solos for the judges. On Thursday, the singers performed duets with “fan favorite” alums, followed by the judges advancing seven contestants to the Top 14 and five back to wherever they came from.
Here’s where it gets even more confusing. Mind you, we are nearly through the semifinal round, and there has been no viewer voting. Typically, viewer vote determined the majority of the finalists, while the judges added 2 or 3 wildcards.
Not so on the fifteenth and final season of American Idol! That dynamic has been literally reversed. At the top of the Wednesday Feb 24 1 hour telecast (8/7c pm 8-9pm), the judges will choose EIGHT singers from the Top 14 to advance to the Top 10. The eliminated six contestants will then PERFORM for TWO WILD CARD SPOTS which will be determined by viewer vote. NOTE: Wednesday’s show will once again be taped ahead on Tuesday Feb 23. Once again, after previous semifinal tapings, there will likely be elimination and song spoilers.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: @IdolSpoilers originally reported that (See here and here) that EIGHT contestants would be advanced by the judges to the Top 10 while SIX performed for TWO wildcard spots. At the taping for the show on Tuesday, reportedly, FOUR contestants were advanced to the Top 10 by the judges while TEN sang for SIX wildcard spots to be determined by America’s Vote.
Important Update Part 2: As it turns out, UPDATE: The spoiler was also confirmed in a FOX press release as well. So maybe TPTB did react to our bitter complaints. Heh.
Thursday Feb 25 (8/7c PM 8-10p) is the FIRST LIVE show of the season. The two wildcard picks voted through by viewers will be unveiled after which the TOP 10 will perform for viewer votes. Original Idol winner Kelly Clarkson will join the panel as a guest judge. She will also perform, which I’m hearing will be taped ahead of time.
UPDATE: Kelly Clarkson’s performance will be pre-taped at 10 am PST tomorrow. Today’s taping for Wednesday’s show is at 1 pm PST.
The following Thursday, March 3 (8/7c 8-10pm), two contestants will be eliminated, and the eight remaining singers will perform LIVE for viewer votes. And so on. The Wednesday Feb 24 show is the LAST Wednesday telecast until finale week. The finale is set for Thursday April 7.
FULL Schedule with dates, times and length of each episode:
American Idol 15 FULL Schedule
VOTING: Beginning Thursday, Feb. 24, viewers at home will have five ways to vote for their favorite singer, including voting online at AmericanIdol.com; via the FOX NOW App; via Google Search; via text messaging; and via toll-free calling when the Idol vote window opens. @IdolSpoilers reports that the votes have been cut back to 10 per contestant per method.
If ya’ll still have questions, I’ll try to answer them in comments.