FOX has announced American Idol 2016 will be the final year of the network’s long-running reality TV singing competition. After more than a decade of entertaining fans across the world, American Idol 15 will be the last season.

American Idol Season 15 Judges and Host
American Idol Season 15 Judges and Host

American Idol 2016 Top 24, Top 10 Finalists, & Beyond:

The American Idol Top 24 contestants were decided following a series of difficult eliminations during Hollywood Week where nearly two hundred Golden Ticket Hopefuls were cut. Eliminations sent home much of the talent through solo performances, ground rounds, and a final deciding solo performance.

Singers who made it through the Final Judgment moved on to face a returning challenge in the Showcase Round. Here the Top 24 were split in to two groups with one half performing in each of two weeks along with duets featuring past American Idol greats. Those who remained following another series of bulk eliminations would move on to the Top 14 and a chance to make it to the Top 10. Spoilers have revealed who made the Top 14 round.

Unlike past seasons, the American Idol 2016 Top 10 would be decided in part first by the Idol Judges. This year production selected the first four of the ten finalists with the other six seats going to Wild Cards as voted in by the audience. It’s a reverse move from what American Idol has done in the past as when viewers picked first and Judges added Wild Cards. Will it be enough to insure who will win American Idol 2016?

The Top 10 contestants were revealed during the February 25th episode when Kelly Clarkson returned as a guest judge and to perform her single, “Piece By Piece.” Now those ten singers will press on against back to back weeks of double eliminations leading to the April 7th finale for Idol’s farewell!

During the season and series grand finale the top two finalists La’Porsha Renae and Trent Harmon faced off for viewers’ votes when Ryan Seacrest revealed that Trent Harmon is the last American Idol winner of the FOX series.

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American Idol 2016 Spoilers:

Keep up with all the latest season 15 spoilers for the new season, including who made it to Hollywood week and beyond, on our American Idol spoilers page.

Details leaked revealing the contestants to survive the Groups Round in Hollywood for the Top 51 singers, who survived the Green Mile to join the 2016 Top 24 contestants, and even who was making it in to the Top 14.

The latest spoilers revealed which of the Top 14 contestants would be part of the Top 10 thanks to the Judges’ Fast Pass track that let just those few singers bypass the Wild Card performance show and move on to the first live show of the season.

American Idol 2016 Farewell Season:

There had been some speculation and rumors that the original American Idol judges might return for the final season, but FOX put that gossip to rest with the American Idol cancelled press release. Although they may not be sitting behind the judges table for the season, however, rumor has it that Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowell will be popping in at some point to bid their final farewells to the show.

“American Idol will begin its 15th — and final — season this January on FOX (see schedule here). A season-long celebratory event, American Idol XV will feature host Ryan Seacrest and judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr., as they search for the final Idol superstar and pay tribute to the past 14 seasons of amazingly talented contestants and the millions of fans who tweeted, texted and championed their Idols,” FOX said in a press release.

The series has struggled with falling ratings and a lack of commercial success for the American Idol winners of the past few seasons. Even though fans seem to prefer the new American Idol judges panel of Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr., and Keith Urban over the past few previous season lineups, that hasn’t helped the ratings enough to keep it going.

With American Idol cancelled, it is truly the end of an era for reality TV competitions. We can only wonder how long other similar shows like The Voice can hold out when we’ve already seen shows like The X Factor and Rising Star tank badly with American audiences.

American Idol 2016 Auditions:

Aspiring Hopefuls have one last shot at glory with the American Idol 2016 auditions which began in May and run through the end of the summer. Just a few cities have been named for Judges visits, but the Idol Bus Tour is rolling strong and will be all over the country. Check audition cities & dates for more details.

American Idol auditions for Season 15
American Idol auditions for Season 15 – Source: FOX/Michael Becker

American Idol auditions for season 15 took place in five major cities across the country: Denver, Savannah, Philadelphia, Little Rock, and San Francisco. In addition, the American Idol 2016 auditions bus will toured throughout the country again to pick up talented singers who can’t make it to the big arena auditions.

We hope you will join us for one last season of American Idol 2016 spoilers, news, recaps and more.  Follow us on Facebook & Twitter to keep up to date on all the latest info on American Idol 2016.

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