ABC has officially announced when the live voting for American Idol 2019 begins. And they have extended the real-time results to the season finale.
That means that we will be voting for the winner of American Idol 2019 on finale night, not overnight as we have always done. So we will see the final performances and pick the winner all within the two-hour finale on Sunday, May 19. I’m not sure I like that, but it really sounds like ABC is doing what it can to make Idol work despite the lackluster ratings and obvious high costs to produce the show with judges like Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.
The first live show performance and simul-vote kicks off Sunday, April 14.
Here is the official press release from ABC:
Following a successful new season launch, in which its Sunday premiere dominated the time period and ranked as the night’s No. 1 broadcast program among adults 18-49 on each telecast, “American Idol” is set to kick off its iconic live performances and America’s vote from Los Angeles starting SUNDAY, APRIL 14 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT, live-to-tape episode), on The ABC Television Network. The season’s first all-live performance show will air MONDAY, APRIL 15 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT), and the schedule continues with live shows on Sundays only for five consecutive weeks.
In its inaugural season on ABC, “American Idol” set the stage as the first reality-competition series in the history of American television to allow viewers to watch and vote from both coasts simultaneously as the series was simulcast in all time zones across the country over a three-week span. Starting SUNDAY, APRIL 21 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT), viewers at home will yet again be able to help determine the fate of this season’s “Idol” hopefuls via the coast-to-coast simul-vote, which will also be extended to the show’s SUNDAY, MAY 19, finale event, marking another historic first.
What do you think about the live voting of the American Idol season finale?