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American Idol season 23 premiered exclusively on ABC on March 9, 2025. For this season Carrie Underwood joined judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan as Ryan Seacrest returned as the host. As viewers are already aware of the show's format, the judges hunt down talented artists from New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville to find the next pop star in America.
During the auditions, the judges were impressed by the artists out of which one of them received a platinum ticket. The show's synopsis reads as following:
"Singers with dreams of super stardom audition and compete in a series of challenging rounds in the hope of living their childhood and lifelong dreams."
What happened on the American Idol Season 23 premiere episode?
One of the main highlights of the American Idol season 23 premiere episode was Kolbi Jordan's audition. Jordan performed "Epiphany (I'm Leaving)" by Chrisette Michele on stage. The Tulsa, Okla native impressed the judges with her strong vocals and ability to grasp everyone's attention through her singing skills. Lionel Ritchie praised the contestant, predicting a successful future for her.
Later in the episode, it was revealed that Kolbi was invited to sing at the Tennessee Titans vs. New England Patriots football game. This was planned by the judges' panel including Lionel, Carrie, and Luke. They surprised Kolbi with a platinum ticket sending her straight to the Hollywood week after her performance wrapped up.
Later on American Idol, Baylee, the son of Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell auditioned on the stage. Baylee shared that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and was nervous to start this journey knowing the legacy that runs in his family. To showcase his skills, the contestant performed his original song Waiting on Myself to Die in front of the judges. He said:
"Following in my dad's footsteps is scary because his career is one of the most extraordinary in music history. No one can ever compare. I believe I get my voice from my dad and hopefully I can do him justice today."
Carrie identified his talent and songwriting skills stating that Baylee has the potential to go ahead in the competition.
Then a 17-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native Isaiah Misailegalu appeared on stage and performed A Song For You by Donny Hathaway. Carrie was surprised by Isaiah's vocal range as well as his ability to make someone else's song his own. She stated:
"It sounds like you’ve been doing it forever. You made it sound very easy, and it’s not. So well done, you liar."
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Richie agreed with Carrie's evaluation mentioning Donny's song was Isaiah's now. American Idol season 23 contestants who received golden tickets this week and are heading to the next stage of the singing competition series include Abi Bowen, Che, Joey Ciccone, Insite, Pat Johnson, Baylee Littrell, Isaiah Misailegalu, Slater Nalley, Breanna Nix, Lillie Zitlaly Rhoden, Gabby Samone, Kam'Ron Smith, Shane Dan Turner, Ian Ward and Crews Wright alongside Kolbi Jordan.
The upcoming episode 2 of American Idol season 23 will be released exclusively on ABC on March 16, 2025.
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