The American Idol 2016 Top 24 will have an all new opportunity as part of the Farewell Season when past Idol singers and winners return to perform duets with this season’s semi-finalists.
Teased as part of the “next week on American Idol” segment at the end of last night’s Idol episode we can expect to see the Top 24 performing both solos and duets with the former Hopefuls during the two-night stretch of shows.
The Top 24 will be split in to two groups with one set appearing each week for their solos and duets. The list of returning alumni will also vary between the weeks. There will be six alumni and twelve Hopefuls each week so we can expect each returning contestant to sing with two of the new singers.
During the first night of duets, on February 11, 2016, we’ll see Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Caleb Johnson and Nick Fradiani return to the American Idol stage. From that same teaser segment we saw Fradiani singing with Thomas Stringfellow, Scotty singing with Jeneve Rose Mitchell and again with Jenna Renae, and Lauren Alaini with MacKenzie Bourg.
Then during week two we’ll see more solos on the Wednesday night show and another round of duets on Thursday but with a new set of legacy singers. That list includes Constantine Maroulis, Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, Jordin Sparks, David Cook and Haley Reinhart.
As for the biggest name in American Idol history, Kelly Clarkson will return as well. She’ll be part of the February 25, 2016 show when the Top 10 are revealed and perform for our votes. Clarkson will appear as both a guest performer and a guest judge. Nice!
I’m pretty excited about this new feature on American Idol 2016. It’s got a lot of potential for great performances and a really special way to remember all the talent that has passed across the American Idol stage before it dims its lights for the last time.
Which Idol alumni would you most want to sing alongside if you had the chance?
Haley Reinhart!!!