ABC Orders Season Four of ‘American Idol’

By
( )
published

Season three finale happens May 17

(Image credit: ABC)

ABC has renewed American Idol for season four on the network. The current season crowns its winner May 17. Seven contestants remain. 

Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan are the judges. Ryan Seacrest hosts. 

The season three finale will feature performances by Cynthia Erivo, Rascal Flatts, Perry, Richie and Bryan, among others. Richie will perform “We are the World” with a group of past American Idol standouts, including Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler and Scotty McCreery. 

American Idol launched on Fox in 2002 and shifted to ABC in 2018. 

It is produced by Fremantle and Industrial Media’s 19 Entertainment. Executive producers include Fremantle’s Trish Kinane, who is showrunner, Jennifer Mullin and Megan Wolflick, with Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman exec producing for 19 Entertainment. 

Michael Malone
Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.