The American Idol season 20 Top 5 travelled to Las Vegas to be mentored by Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood. HunterGirl, Leah Marlene, Nicolina Bozzo and Fritz Hager made it to Resorts World Las Vegas, where Carrie kicked off the latest leg of her residency. However, Noah Thompson stayed behind, according to social media posts.
Last week both Fritz Hager and Noah Thompson tested positive for COVID-19. Their ability to travel was up in the air. Noah tested a few days before Sunday’s show, and performed from his hotel room, despite an aching throat. Fritz tested positive the morning of the live show, allowing the show to use his dress rehearsal footage from the day before.
Interestingly, Noah ended up not well enough to travel, despite testing positive earlier than Fritz.
Recorded original songs won’t be performed until the Top 3 Grand Finale
Another important note: The Top 5 will sing TWO songs on Sunday. But they WON’t perform the original songs the Top 7 released on Friday. Earlier reports stated that the Top 5 would sing their originals. In fact, last year, the Top 4 sang original songs ahead of the finale.
Instead, the contestants will perform Carrie Underwood songs (apparently Carrie’s covers count) and another song of their own choosing. Leah Marlene dropped the themes during a live stream on Saturday. The Top 3 will sing their original songs on the May 22 Finale, according to a press release from BMG, Idol’s record label.
And in the end, contestants could choose their own Carrie Underwood songs
Also, reportedly: Carrie chose the songs for each of the contestants. But then ultimately, a few of the contestants picked their own songs. Carrie said she hated having songs chosen for her on Idol, so she supported the singers making their own picks.
That explains why American Idol deleted the tweet they posted earlier this week about Carrie picking her songs for the contestants. The Idol Twitter account posted “Sunday’s #AmericanIdol guest mentor is the incredible @CarrieUnderwood — and they’re each singing one of her songs! ?? What do you hope Carrie picks for @NoahThompsonMu1??” And then deleted the Tweet and never mentioned the theme again anywhere on social media. For the record, American Idol has only confirmed that Carrie mentored the contestants.
American Idol airs coast to coast on ABC Sunday May 15 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Fans can vote throughout the broadcast until after the last commercial break. At the end of the episode, host Ryan Seacrest will announce the Top 3 finalists moving on to the May 22 Grand Finale. Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan sit on the judges panel.
Additional reporting from Blake Busch
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