American Idol 2023 Journey to the Finale featured NEW Adam Lambert performance, Maddie Poppe show off her DIY skills
American Idol aired a 2 hour clip show monday night that featured some fun trips down memory lane. The episode recapped season 21, featuring a few fan favorite contestants who were cut early. The episode ended with a performance by season 8 favorite, Adam Lambert
For instance, Idol interviewed Karoline Kole working in the studio. She put American Idol on her resume and she’s getting job offers. After the two sang “Firework” together, she got over 20 million views on the Tik Tok clip.
Checking in with Fire, the single mother and exotic dancer who dreamed of making a better life for her family, she shared that after being eliminated at the Showstopper round, she enrolled in her “dream school” in New York to study musical theater.
Adin Boyer who auditioned for American Idol to inspire other people who are also neurodivergent. received double the streams on his audition song “Predicament” and after singing “Viva La Vida” Chris Martin sent him a message.
Watch Michael William’s unseen audition clip
Amid the contestant recaps, Top 26 contestant Michael Williams audition FINALLY aired! That might have helped him before voters eliminated him at the Top 12. He sang an original song titled “Strong”
Maddie Poppe needs to star in a home improvement series NOW
The show also caught up with winners like Noah Thompson (S22), Chayce Beckham and more like season 16 winner Maddie Poppe who is not only a singer-songwriter but a DIY expert! The special featured a hilarious clip of her refurbishing her house in Nashville
She also shared how both she and runner-up Caleb Lee Hutchinson saw the results card before Ryan Seacrest announced the winner. Ryan has a long history of card mismanagement. Clay Aiken (S2), Caleb Johnson (S13) and Chayce Beckham (S19) all saw the card before Ryan called out their names (or didn’t in Clay’s case. Ruben Studdard won).
Although Maddie talked about standing on stage with Caleb she did NOT mention they were a romantic couple at the time. Maddie and Caleb did break up last fall.
In a segment on American Idol singer songwriters, the show recapped original songs from Alejandro Aranda and Catie Turner, along with current contestants like Phil Kane and We Ani. Preston Dufree’s “Something to Write About” garnered over half a million streams after his audition aired. And John Wayne Hatfield has recorded his touching song “Tell Me Ray” about his grandpa who was reluctant to come out as gay. Since then, Ray has learned that people love him for who he is.
Adam Lambert covers Lana del Rey’s “West Coast”
Queen frontman and season 7 alum Adam Lambert wound things up with a cover of Lana del Rey’s “West Coast” from his recent album of iconic covers High Drama. Earlier in the season, Adam mentored the Top 12 on Hall of Fame night and performed another song from his cover album, “I Can’t Stand the Rain” by Ann Peebles.
