American Idol season 23
The twenty-third season of American Idol premiered March 2, 2025, on ABC. Ryan Seacrest returned as host and Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie came back as judges. Season four winner Carrie Underwood replaced Katy Perry as a judge.
Jamal Roberts won the season on May 18, 2025, while John Foster was the runner-up, and Breanna Nix finished in third place.
Auditions
The Idol Across America virtual auditions program which began in 2020 returned and auditions were held remotely from August 12 to September 9, 2024. There were also many open-call auditions and from those, the producers selected contestants to audition in front of the judges.The "platinum ticket" also returned from the previous three seasons. During the audition round three platinum tickets were awarded. The recipients were Kolbi Jordan, Filo, and Canaan James Hill.
| City | Filming date | Filming venue |
| New York City | September 30, 2024 | PENN 2 |
| Nashville | October 30, 2024 | Music City Center |
| Los Angeles | December 2024 | Calamigos Ranch |
Hollywood Week
Dubbed the "Idol Arena", each of the 144 contestants were chosen at random to perform a solo, and sixty-two of them advanced to the next round. The three platinum ticket recipients sang. Their advantage was the ability to skip this round and they sang a bonus performance. Joining them were 59 additional contestants who cleared the Idol Arena, while the other 82 were eliminated. The "Showstoppers" round determined the Top 24 semifinalists. In a twist after the Showstoppers round, while cuts were made, the judges chose four contestants to advance to the Top 24 and the remaining 42 competed in the Head to Head round. During the round contestants had 24 hours to pick a partner and prepare a duet performance. After the duets, the judges chose 20 to be in the Top 24.Showstopper round
The Showstopper round featured the top 62 contestants performing for the judges and a live audience at the Barker Hangar. The round was filmed on January 27, 2025, and aired on April 7, 2025. The judges narrowed the number of contestants down to 46, with four advancing to the Top 24. Five contestants which made it to the Top 24 did not have their Showstopper performance aired. The next night, a new "Head to Head" round was featured where the remaining 42 contestants sang for 20 spots. Jelly Roll debuted as the "Artist in Residence" and he mentored the contestants until the winner was announced.Among these contestants are Thunderstorms Artis & Victor Solomon, who were on The Voice Seasons eighteen and twenty respectively. They were both coached by John Legend, but Thunderstorm got stolen in the knockout rounds by Nick Jonas. Thunderstorm got third place and Victor got fifth place.
| Contestant | Song |
| Victor Solomon | "In the Air Tonight" |
| Mattie Pruitt | "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" |
| Kolbi Jordan | "River Deep – Mountain High" |
| Isaiah Misailegalu | "What Hurts the Most" |
| Breanna Nix | "The Trouble with Love Is" |
| Drew Ryn | "Always On My Mind" |
| Jamal Roberts | "Tennessee Whiskey" |
| Amanda Barise | "Ain't Nobody" |
| Desmond Roberts | "Barracuda" |
| John Foster | "In Color" |
| Zaylie Windsor | "Happier Than Ever" |
| Filo | "Anything Worth Holding On To" |
| Slater Nalley | "Ophelia" |
| MKY | "Sabor a Mí" |
| Gabby Samone | "Four Women" |
| Grayson Torrence | "Oscar Winning Tears" |
| Thunderstorm Artis | "Imagine" |
| Olivier Bergeron | "Like a Stone" |
| Canaan James Hill | "Never Would Have Made It" |
Top 24 (April 13 & 14)
The top 24 contestants were split into two groups of twelve and performed a song each at the Aulani resort in Kapolei, Hawaii on Oahu. The first group taped performances on February 11 which aired on April 13, while the second group taped on February 12 and aired on April 14. Ashanti was a guest mentor and judge for the first group, and Josh Groban for the second group. Two contestants from each group were eliminated based on the public vote and the rest advanced to the top 20. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.Color key:
Top 20 (April 20 & 21)The top 20 performances aired on Sunday, April 20 and the results were revealed on Monday, April 21. The top 20 performances aired on Easter and the theme for the episode was "Songs of Faith."Color key: Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
FinalsColor key:Top 14 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (April 27)James Taylor served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed one song from inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Top 12 – Iconic American Idol Moments (April 28)Fantasia Barrino served as a guest mentor this week.
Top 10 – Ladies Night (May 4)Miranda Lambert served as a guest mentor this week. It was also announced that auditions for Season 24 were open.
Top 8 – Judges' Song Contest (May 5)Contestants were given three songs, each selected by the judges, to pick from. After each performance, contestants guessed who picked their chosen song. Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie tied with the most song choices selected by the contestants, and were able to save one contestant from elimination.
Top 7 – Disney Night #1 & Mother's Day Tributes (May 11)Lin-Manuel Miranda served as a guest mentor this week. Contestants performed a song from a Disney movie and a Mother's Day tribute. Stitch also made an appearance to surprise the Top 7.
Top 5 – Disney Night #2: Heroes & Villains (May 12)
Top 3 – Finale (May 18)The first round of songs were chosen by Jelly Roll, based off of a list of each contestants' favorite songs. The 2nd round songs were selected by the contestants as dedications to their hometowns, shown after their hometown visits. After Nix had been eliminated and finished in 3rd place, the remaining two performed their intended winner's singles in the final round, after which Roberts was announced as the winner.
Elimination chart'''Color key:''' |