The fifteenth season of American Idol, also branded as American Idol: The Farewell Season, premiered on the Fox television network on January 6, 2016. Ryan Seacrest continued as the host, while Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez, and Keith Urban returned as judges. Scott Borchetta also returned as the in-house mentor. On April 7, 2016, Trent Harmon was announced as this season's winner and La'Porsha Renae was the runner-up.
It was the series' final season to air on Fox. Despite the announcement that the series would be ending, ABC announced in May 2017 that they would revive American Idol.
For the first time, performances by the top 24 were judged solely by the show's judges and producers, who determined which contestants were eliminated. From each group of twelve, seven were advanced and five were eliminated, resulting in a top 14 for the third week of the semifinals.
The voting limit for this season was set at ten votes per contestant per voting method, half of what it had been the previous season.
The American Idol "Audition Bus Tour" visited the following cities: Seattle; Providence, Rhode Island; Baltimore, Maryland; San Diego, California; Pittsburgh; Tucson, Arizona; Indianapolis, Indiana; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Athens, Georgia; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Oxford, Mississippi; and Wilmington, North Carolina. American Idol partnered with two technology companies to allow people to audition using video recording kiosks and mobile apps in Culver City, California, and Nashville.
Auditions took place in:
The top 24 semifinalists were split into two groups of twelve, and their performances were filmed at The Vibiana in Los Angeles. Each round consisted of back-to-back performances: each contestant sang one solo in the episode which aired on Wednesday, and one duet with an American Idol alumnus in the episode that aired on Thursday.
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Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Following the judges' selection of four contestants to advance to the Finals, the remaining ten semifinalists competed for the viewers' votes. Six of them advanced to complete the final group of ten. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
There were seven weeks of finals with ten contestants competing. For the first three weeks, the judges had the ability to save one contestant amongst the bottom three or two, that resulted from America's votes based upon the previous week's performances. As of the Top 5, the results reverted back entirely to America's vote.
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Kelly Clarkson served as a guest judge this week. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Avalon Young, Olivia Rox, and Gianna Isabella were in the Bottom 3 based on America's votes from the previous week's episode. Rox performed "Trouble" while Isabella performed "If I Ain't Got You". However, Young's performance of "Earned It" earned the judges' save amongst the three, and consequently, the other two were eliminated. Young's performance was nevertheless up for America's vote along with the other seven. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Contestants performed two songs each: one duet with a fellow contestant, and one solo. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Avalon Young, Lee Jean, and Sonika Vaid were in the Bottom 3 based on America's votes from the previous week's episode. Duets were done before revealing the results from the previous week. Young performed "P.Y.T." while Jean performed "Let It Be". However, Vaid's performance of "I Have Nothing" earned the judges' save amongst the three, and consequently, the other two were eliminated. Vaid's performance was nevertheless up for America's vote along with the other five. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Contestants performed two songs each, one of which was chosen by the voters on Twitter. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Tristan McIntosh and Sonika Vaid were in the Bottom 2 based on America's votes from the previous week's episode. McIntosh performed "Independence Day". However, Vaid's performance of "Let It Go" earned the judges' final opportunity to rescue a contestant, and consequently, McIntosh was eliminated midway through the show, prior to singing a second song. Vaid's performances were nevertheless up for America's vote along with the other four.
Sia and Stevie Van Zandt served as guest mentors this week. Contestants performed two songs: a classic rock song and a song from Sia's discography. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
In a deviation from other weeks, Sonika Vaid did not perform before she was eliminated, based on the previous week's votes.
Each contestant performed three songs: one dedicated to the finalists' hometowns, one chosen by mentor Scott Borchetta, and one chosen by the judges. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
MacKenzie Bourg performed "Hallelujah," but was eliminated based on the previous week's votes.
Each contestant performed three songs, one of which was chosen by producer Simon Fuller, and are listed in the order they performed.
This episode is notable for the return of Brian Dunkleman for one more episode.
Dalton Rapattoni performed "Strike A Match," but was eliminated based on the previous week's votes.
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Live + same day ratings
The fifteenth season premiered to 10.96 million viewers, the second lowest since the series premiere. It received an all-time-low 3.0/9 18âÂÂ49 rating, down 9% from last season. The season finale however had 13.30 million viewers, 5 million more than the fourteenth season finale.
Live + 7 day (DVR) ratings