‘American Idol’ Back on ABC Feb. 14
Virtual auditions happened over Zoom, over the summer
Season four of American Idol is on ABC Feb. 14. Ryan Seacrest returns as host of the music competition show, and Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are back as judges.
Bobby Bones returns as in-house mentor.
Virtual auditions, under the title “Idol Across America,” began Aug. 10.
American Idol was on Fox for 15 seasons and shifted to ABC in 2018. Seacrest has hosted since the beginning and Bryant, Perry and Richie joined in 2018.
New York singer Just Sam won in 2020.
American Idol is produced by Fremantle and Industrial Media’s 19 Entertainment. Fremantle’s Trish Kinane of Fremantle is showrunner and executive producer, and Jennifer Mullin, Megan Wolflick, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman executive produce as well.
Broadcasting & Cable Newsletter
The smarter way to stay on top of broadcasting and cable industry. Sign up below
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.