Updated April 6, 2026, 11:25 p.m. ET
“American Idol” is right down to its ultimate 11 contestants.
Per week after a vote-counting hiccup delayed the Top 12 reveal, the ultimate tally was made official throughout the April 6 “judges’ song contest” episode. The cliffhanger not solely had viewers on the sting of their seats, but additionally the singers, who tried to profit from their additional week within the competitors.
Two “Idol” hopefuls had been despatched dwelling on the prime of the April 6 episode earlier than yet one more singer was voted out within the Top 11 reveal on the finish following a save from Lionel Richie, who gained the competitors with seven of his songs chosen.
“It definitely gives us anxiety, but it gives us more time to hang out as a family,” Brooks Rosser tells USA TODAY after he obtained over the shock of the Top 12 postponement. Lucas Leon admits, “I’m still going to be a little bit quaking in my boots until next Monday [April 6].”
This week catered to ABC’s millennial viewers, with the Top 12 tasked with performing ’90s hits that had been specifically chosen by Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan. But it was additionally a tough evening for 30-something viewers, because the younger contestants – who vary from their teenagers to late 20s – admitted to not understanding a number of the tune decisions, together with “Wonderwall.”
The strain was heightened by some superstar company within the crowd representing Nineties popular culture: “Boy Meets World” star Danielle Fishel (who hosts the official “Idol” podcast), Holly Robinson Peete and Mark Curry of “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper” fame, “Full House” star Andrea Barber and Reginald VelJohnson of “Family Matters.”
Here’s who stayed and who went dwelling because the Top 14 whittled right down to 11 finalists.
Who’s within the ‘American Idol’ Top 11 in 2026?
- Philmon Lee
- Braden Rumfelt
- Lucas Leon
- Hannah Harper
- Chris Tungseth
- Rae
- Daniel Stallworth
- Keyla Richardson
- Jordan McCullough
- Brooks Rosser
- Kyndal Inskeep
Who was despatched dwelling on ‘American Idol?’
- Julián Kalel
- Jake Thistle
- Jesse Findling
