How American Idol plans to bring back live audiences
We recently posted that American Idol planned to bring back live audiences for the Top 24 Solo and All Star Duets round airing next week (Sunday April 4 and Monday April 5). Now, more details regarding how the show will bring back audiences, while keeping cast and crew safe have been revealed.
ABC/Eric McCandless
According to Deadline, 50 people have been let into the studio to watch and react to All Star Duets round. Showrunner Trish Kinane said that the show has worked closely with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to find a safe way for fans to join. Audience members will be masked, tested and seated in pods with their immediate households. The note sent out to potential audience members said they would be casted and paid, according to current L.A. County Board of Health Rules. And, the mandatory testing would take place a day before the taping. Pods of three people from the same household will be seated.
When someone hits the high note, you can’t re-create that reaction
She said that there’s a “real buzz to being back with real people with real singing and a real audience” and that it was always the intention to have a live crowd, Covid-19 numbers permitting, for this season. “We’ve got as many as we possibly can, and we’re hoping if things get better, we’ll be able to get even more audience in for the finale on May 23,” she added. “It makes a difference even having the 50 people we’re allowed to have, people reacting properly. When someone hits the high note, you can’t re-create that reaction.”
Also, the studio has been redesigned. Producers needed to make the stage much wider to accommodate social distancing. Singers need to be 20 feet apart, and there needs to be more room to keep judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan apart. “It made us look creatively how the studio was going to look and feel,” she said.
VOTE for your favorite American Idol Top 24 contestants beginning April 4. LIVE Shows start April 11
Additionally, going forward, fans will be able to vote for their favorite contestants. Viewers will be voting four contestants off from each of the two duet groups with the top 16 results revealed the following week during the April 11 episode, which will be the show’s first live episode. “It seemed like this was the moment to get America involved, they’ll be voting from now on,” Kinane said.
The goal is to make the show seem as normal as possible. And it’s no wonder the rush is on to do that. Award and competition show ratings have fallen amid the pandemic. I think some folks would rather stream a world where coronavirus does not exist, than have it in front of their faces, in the form of Zoom judges, empty auditoriums, and singers and casts unable to hug one another.
“You get the odd mask in the back of shot, but it feels pretty normal, and that’s our aim going forward as well, just to try and get something on people’s screens that feels familiar, normal, uplifting, positive, all of that stuff,” said Kinane.
We have spoilers for the duet rounds. The celebrities have been revealed, but we know some of the pairings. Check it out HERE.
Celebrity duet partners announced!
Celebrities slated to perform with contestants include: Ben Rector, Incubus’ Brandon Boyd, Brian McKnight, Jason Aldean, Jewel, season 10 alum Jimmie Allen, Josh Groban, Joss Stone, season 5 runner-up, Katharine McPhee, Maroon 5’s P.J. Morton, Ryan Tedder, season 9 alum Tori Kelly,
Next week… the vote is in YOUR hands.
+ ? ????????? ????? ? @JimmieAllen @RyanTedder @Jason_Aldean @KatharineMcPhee @Jeweljk @JoshGroban @PJMorton @BenRector @MyBrandonBoyd @ItsBMcKnight @JossStone @torikelly
?????? & ?????? at 8|7c! pic.twitter.com/MVgWJfRKBn
— American Idol (@AmericanIdol) March 30, 2021
See the full list of the Top 24 with audition links and more HERE.
Time to celebrate some of your favorite #AmericanIdol Top 24 contestants! ? Stream episodes now on demand or on Hulu! ? pic.twitter.com/rD5PpKHKWt
— American Idol (@AmericanIdol) March 30, 2021
