Stream It Or Skip It: ‘American Idol’ 2023 on ABC, Where The Veteran Singing Competition Returns With More Talent To Mine

American Idol, which airs on ABC before bouncing to Hulu for streaming, returns for its sixth season on its current network and 21st overall with Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan handling judging duties and Ryan Seacrest still doing that hand-whip gesture when he announces the show. “THIS is American Idol,” again, for the twenty-first time. And while the competition reality stalwart has lost some of its pop culture juice, it’s definitely bringing some real talent to the audition zone as the festivities get underway.  

AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 21: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The singing hopefuls aren’t the only ones who receive a golden ticket. In a canned opening montage, we see Idol hosts Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan receive their golden calls to the judges’ table, each ticket emblazoned with a “21” to mark the new season.

The Gist: There will be three audition shows to start the latest run of American Idol, and in the first, the host desk and makeshift performance area are set up in Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Nashville, with longtime host Ryan Seacrest along to act as a kind of talent wrangler. (The auditions were held in September, October, and November of last year.) And it might seem like Richie, Perry, and Bryan are handing everyone who comes through the door tickets to Hollywood, if the first few auditions are any indication. Haven Madison, 16, from Clarksville, TN, who sings a song she wrote with her dad accompanying on acoustic guitar, prompts Richie to say “artist, voice, songwriting: check, check, check,” and gets immediate “Yes” votes from the other judges; Lucy Love, 28, brings the house down with her vocals as we learn about her life back home in Holly Grove, AR; and Colin Stough, a quiet 18-year-old from Amory, MS, sings “Simple Man” from Lynyrd Skynyrd, strums his guitar, and seems to remind Bryan of himself at that age.

Idol is pretty heavily invested in its “getting to know you” packages, which travel to some of the far-flung places the producers have gone for the “Idol Across America” auditioning dragnet. There are lots of tears and tributes to what’s personally inspired contestants, like the loss of a loved one or the encouragement of a parent. But Idol finds some time to joke around, too, with a quick segment featuring alternatives to Luke Bryan and Katy Perry auditioning, a kid who says Lionel Richie is his namesake, and a teenager named Ryan Seacrest who films a unison version of the “Seacrest OUT!” money line alongside the host. 

As the golden tickets find their way into the world, there’s also another wrinkle in the audition process, as the platinum ticket returns from Idol season 20. A platinum designation jets a contestant directly to the second round of Hollywood Week and allows them to pick a duet partner ahead of the pack, an honor that’s bestowed on 17-year-old Tyson Venegas of Vancouver, BC, once the judges get a load of him singing and playing piano for “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel. Richie says the high schooler is so accomplished, he sounds like a grown man. 

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Voice returns to NBC this March, with new judges Chance the Rapper and Niall Horan joining returning chair people Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton. (Shelton has said season 23 of The Voice will be his last.) And The Masked Singer has also returned to Fox, if the costumed performative antics of California Roll, Medusa, Jackalope, and French Hen are more your thing. 

Our Take: Not everybody is going to make it to Hollywood. The judges don’t just push everyone through, even though it seems like that’s what’s going on. Instead, American Idol has adjusted its editing, with considerably less screen time afforded to wacky or otherwise unlikely auditions, something that used to generate social media chatter for the show during its early rounds. Instead, in the first episode, we see people come in and soar vocally, and carry themselves with such assuredness, that it feels like what Idol is focusing on here is inherent talent and how to capitalize on it. “We’re looking for a package,” Lionel Richie tells Michael Williams, a 21-year-old singer from Ohio, and as the guy is collecting his “Yes” votes, Katy Perry compares him to Shawn Mendes and Harry Styles.

With the abundance of talent on display, it’s also worth considering these hopefuls’ personal stories, whether in the pre-recorded packages Idol produces or in organically grown breakout moments. And in Kya Monee’s case, the show has both. The 21-year-old from Austin competed with Willie Spence in 2019, and with the Idol runner-up’s passing in 2022, Monee dedicates her audition to his spirit as a person and performer. It’s a blend of heartache and inspiration that you couldn’t write better for a show like American Idol, and certainly one of its strongest storylines as the series moves on from auditions and into its Hollywood phase.    

Sex and Skin: Come on now. 

Parting Shot: “These kids are gonna keep coming in.” After three cities’ worth of auditions, Richie, Perry, and Bryan agree that casting their net wide has only brought more talent to the halls of American Idol. But there are still two audition shows left, and two more platinum tickets to be doled out.

Sleeper Star: Colin Stough, the young man from a small town in Mississippi, offers an unassuming nature, the steadiness of a guy resigned to doing his damndest, and an absolutely huge singing voice, so there’s a real sense that he’s going places in the competition. After all, Noah Thompson, the guy who won American Idol last year, had a similar story and sound. 

Most Pilot-y Line: “Everytime that door opens you don’t know how this might change a person’s life…” A version of this line is said so many times in American Idol that it might as well be the series’ official slogan. 

Our Call: STREAM IT. It might not be the talent mint it purports to be. But structurally, the veteran entry American Idol still functions well as competitive reality, and as a showcase of raw, hungry young talent. It’s still entirely possible for Idol to make one of these young people a star. 

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges