Season 18

**Season 18** of *American Idol* premiered on ABC on Sunday February 16, 2020 and ended on May 17, 2020. It is the show's third season to air on ABC.

Ryan Seacrest returned as host, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan returned as judges, and Bobby Bones returned as mentor.

This season was won by **Just Sam**, with Arthur Gunn finishing in second place.

## Auditions

Main article: Season 18 Auditions
Twenty-two cities were visited by the *Idol* bus beginning with Nashville, Tennessee on June 7-8, 2019. Auditions could also be submitted via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Musical.ly.

### Audition Cities

The following cities held auditions for Season 18, dates of the auditions are also shown.

* **Savannah, Georgia**- *September 30-October 1, 2019*
* **Milwaukee, Wisconsin** - *October 8-9, 2019*
* **Washington, D.C.** - *October 14-15, 2019*
* **Los Angeles, California** - *November 1-2, 2019*
* **Sunriver, Oregon** - *November 7-8, 2019*

### Regional Auditions

During the live broadcast of the 2019 American Music Awards, three contestants who were eliminated from the competition in Season 16 and Season 17 were given a chance to return to the competition. The contestants were Logan Johnson, Shawn Robinson, and Layla Spring. The winner of the vote was revealed to be Layla Spring on the finale of *Dancing with the Stars* Season 28 on November 25, 2019. However, Layla Spring wasn't shown.

## Hollywood Week

During Hollywood Week, the contestants must perform in front of the judges in hopes of advancing to the next round. These rounds consist of numerous cuts while the contestants perform in solos and in groups. Only the best contestants advanced.

While the majority of Hollywood Round is similar to that of previous seasons, for the first time ever, head-to-head duets were added.

### Judgement Round

The first judgement round of Hollywood was known as "Line of Nine". Numerous groups of contestants lined up in sets of nine to perform a song individually. After a line performed, the judges chose the best to advance on while others were cut from the competition. Those who advanced moved on to the duet rounds.

### Duet Rounds

The duet rounds are the ultimate test of the stability and harmony of an artist within a duet. Like previous seasons, contestants were required to assemble into gender neutral duets of one or more. Those who failed to assemble a duet of one or more, were instantly disqualified due to the one person rule. Duets who gave a quality performance advanced on to the next round. However, duets or certain duet members that didn't perform to a good enough extent, were cut from the competition.

### Solo Round

Those who advanced passed the Duet Rounds had to perform a solo in front of the judges. After the performances, 40 contestants were chosen to perform in front of a live audience for their Final Judgement.

## Showcase Week

After the Top 40 performed in front of their first full audience, they met with the judges for their Final Judgement. Only 20 were able to advance to the next round while the rest were unfortunately cut from the season.

### Top 20

After the Final Judgement, 20 contestants were chosen to move on to the semifinals.

**Males:**

* Franklin Boone
* DeWayne Crocker Jr.
* Arthur Gunn
* Dillon James
* Louis Knight
* Francisco Martin
* Nick Merico
* Jovin Webb
* Jonny West

**Females:**

* Faith Becnel
* Cyniah Elise
* Kimmy Gabriela
* Julia Gargano
* Aliana Jester
* Just Sam
* Grace Leer
* Makayla Phillips
* Lauren Spencer-Smith
* Sophia Wackerman
* Olivia Ximines

## This Is Me

Two special episodes explore the lives of the Top 20 finalists, featuring rehearsal footage of the contestants.

## Semifinals

Main article: Top 20 (Season 18)
Production on the Top 20 rounds was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. It resumed with an April 26 show with contestants and judges working from home.

### Top 11

Main article: Top 11 (Season 18)
The following contestants advanced to the **Top 11**:

**Males**

* Arthur Gunn
* Dillon James
* Louis Knight
* Francisco Martin
* Jovin Webb
* Jonny West

**Females**

* Just Sam
* Julia Gargano
* Grace Leer
* Makayla Phillips
* Sophia Wackerman

### Semifinal Voting Rounds

On May 3, the twenty semifinalists competed for America's vote for their places in the Top 11. During the next day's live results, the ten contestants who received the highest number of votes Knight, Gargano, Webb, Leer, West, Wackerman, Gunn, Sam, James, and Martin who advanced in the Finals while the ten remaining singers who received the least amount of votes had to sing for one remaining spots to advance. Afterwards, the judges selected Phillips to complete the Top 11.

## Top 11

Main article: Top 11 (Season 18)
The following contestants were Season 18's **Top 11**:

* Louis Knight
* Julia Gargano
* Jovin Webb
* Grace Leer
* Jonny West
* Sophia Wackerman
* Arthur Gunn
* Just Sam
* Dillon James
* Francisco Martin
* Makayla Phillips

The Top 11 sang Homeware Bound songs, and then sang songs for their figures.

## Top 7

The following contestants were Season 18's **Top 7**:

* Arthur Gunn
* Just Sam
* Jonny West
* Louis Knight
* Julia Gargano
* Francisco Martin
* Dillon James

The Top 7 sang Disney songs, and then sang songs for their mother figures.

## Finale

The following contestants were Season 18's **Finale**:

* Just Sam
* Arthur Gunn
* Dillon James
* Francisco Martin
* Jonny West

### Images

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### Video

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