ABC "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest and contestant Lady K.
On the April 25, 2022 episode of ABC’s “American Idol“, the top 11 artists performed live coast-to-coast with hopes of receiving enough votes from viewers to make it through to the top 10.
During the episode, judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan chose songs for the remaining 11 artists to perform.
Read on below for a live recap of the results as they aired. If you’d rather just have a list of which contestants made it through and which were eliminated, scroll to the bottom for that.
WARNING: Spoilers for the Top 11 performances and top 10 reveal episode of “American Idol” follow. Don’t read on if you don’t want to know who made it through to the Top 10.
Top 11 Live Recap
The show started with Ryan Seacrest announcing a “twist no one sees coming” on tonight’s episode, referring to the “judge song contest,” where the judges will be going head-to-head. Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry all then took their seats while Ryan explained the rules. Each finalist had three songs to choose from, and the judge who has the most songs chosen wins.
He also said that there were 18.5 million votes that came in the night before.
First up was Nicolina, who had to choose between three powerhouse songs. She ultimately chose “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson. She thought Katy chose the song for her, but the judge who actually picked it was Lionel. The judges liked it, saying they appreciated her “fire” and Katy said she could sing it “as good as Kelly Clarkson.”
Mike Parker was up next. His choice was “Chasin’ You” by Morgan Wallen. He thought that the song was chosen by Luke, and he was correct. Then, Luke donated his jean jacket from the previous show to Mike. Luke thought he “did a great job.”
The next contestant was Fritz Hager. He chose to sing “Wonderwall” by Oasis after calling it “a meme.” He really tried to make the song his own, changing the arrangement. He thought Katy picked the song for him, and he was incorrect. The judge who picked the song was actually Luke. The judges loved Fritz’s performance. Lionel called it “perfect,” and Katy said Fritz is “my guy” and said that he “flipped that on its head” and called his performance “brilliant.”
Christian Guardino was up next. He chose to sing “For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder, but he ultimately changed his mind to choose “You Know I’m Not the Only One” by Sam Smith. Ryan called it “beautiful.” Christian thought the song was chosen by Luke, but Katy actually chose it. Luke said that Christian was nervous but he does everything else correctly, calling him “amazing.”
Then, Noah Thompson was up. He chose to sing “Heartbreak Warfare” by John Mayer. He didn’t even know it before he chose it, but he said it became one of his favorites. He picked Katy as the judge who chose his song, but she didn’t, as she made a point about her not picking a John Mayer song. Luke was actually the person who chose it.
Lady K was the next singer to take the stage. She chose to sing “Traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo, though she didn’t know the song prior to it being chosen for her. She got a little emotional during the song. She thought that the song picks were obvious for her, and she said that Katy picked the song for her. She did not pick it, she revealed. Lionel was actually the one who picked the song.
“Is there a teenage girl trapped in your body?” Katy asked Lionel. The judges loved Lady K’s performance.
HunterGirl was up next. She chose “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton. She thought Lionel picked it, but he did not. It was actually Luke that picked the song, putting him at a huge lead over the other judges. Katy thought it was great, especially when it came to the stage presence.
Leah Marlene chose to sing “Make You Feel My Love” by Bob Dylan. She thought that Katy chose the song for her, and she was correct this time around. That puts Katy back in the running, and Katy loved the performance.
The next performance came from Tristen Gressett. He chose “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones. Lionel chose the song for him, and Tristen got it right when he guessed. He called the performance “Mick Jagger on steroids,” and he said that he thought it was “showstopping.”
The second-to-last performance came from Emyrson Flora. She chose to sing “lovely” by Billie Eilish. She thought Katy chose the song, and she was correct. Katy thought the performance was good and told Emyrson to lean into the Billie Eilish comparisons because she would always want to listen to her.
Jay Copeland was the last artist of the night. He sang “Lilac Wine” by Jeff Buckley. He got a standing ovation from the judges, and he shared that he thought Katy picked his song. She said she did, and celebrated tying Luke in the contest. Luke called the performance “perfect,” and beautiful.
Which Artists Made the Top 10?
Here’s who made it through to the top 10:
- Noah Thompson
- Christian Guardino
- Fritz Hager
- Nicolina
- HunterGirl
- Emyrson Flora
- Leah Marlene
- Jay Copeland
- Mike Parker
- Lady K
Here’s who was in the bottom two:
- Lady K
- Tristen Gressett
In a surprising twist, Katy and Luke got to save one of the bottom two. They chose to save Lady K.
The only artist eliminated was Tristen Gressett.
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