It’s a journey that began last summer with auditions for season 23 of the long-running TV talent competition American Idol. Then, judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan decided which contestants would earn golden tickets to Hollywood Week. Twenty-four singers who survived those tough sessions were flown to Hawaii to perform for audiences at Disney’s Aulani resort, then returned to Hollywood to face the judgment of the viewing audience at home. With over one billion votes already registered this season, the competition has narrowed down show by show. Nearing the end of the season, the top 14 performed in the Idol arena at Red Studios on Sunday (April 27), and at the end of the two-hour live broadcast, two hopefuls were sent home and the top 12 moved on to Monday (April 28) night’s episode.
For the first six seasons of Idol, contestants were not allowed to do interviews with media until they were eliminated from the competition. That changed in season 7, when Billboard first sat down with the top 10 for a series of in-depth talks. That tradition has continued every season since. A few days ago, the top 14 filed in one at a time to an office in the famed Hollywood studio where Idol originates (it was once home to I Love Lucy and The Golden Girls). There they were grilled about their formative years, their connection to the series, their musical education, their feelings about the judges and lessons learned.
Here are the stories of the top 12 contestants and the two singers eliminated on Sunday.
