Like many shows, American Idol has had to make some pretty drastic production adjustments in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The show is now filming its episodes from home, and People reports that this Sunday’s will feature an array of special guests, in addition to Ryan Seacrest and the three judges.
The episode’s guests will include Charlie Puth, Stevie Wonder, Darius Rucker, and Phillip Phillips. In the two-hour episode, which is titled “On with the Show: Homeward Bound,” voters will find out who America voted into the top-10 round of the competition. In addition, judges Katy Perry , Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan will team up with the episode’s guests to give the finalists a masterclass on what it means to be a star.
Last week, the show began airing remotely for the first time, featuring performances from the top 20, who were all performing from the comfort of their homes. In determining how that would work, Perry told reporters that it was ultimately up to each contestant individually.
“ American Idol is all about fairness, so we sent everyone a kit that had the same mics, the same set, the same lights. It was up to the talent. They had the option to perform with their own instruments or utilize our music director from afar,” she said.
Perry acknowledged that performing remotely presented some disadvantages, including the inability to play off of a live audience.
“They have to look into the lens of the camera as though it is an excited audience. They don’t get to flex that muscle,” the “I Kissed a Girl” singer said.
Perry also said that filming American Idol remotely presented challenges involving time delays and that it required a lot of patience from both the judges and the contestants. As a result, they are not able to react to one another with as much spontaneity.
Although it has been challenging, Perry said that given the circumstances, they were proud of the product they’d been able to produce.
Richie said that what he missed most about seeing the performances live was being able to get a sense for each contestants’ stage presence. The “Hello” singer said that presence was something that couldn’t be taught, so it was an important factor in judging each contestants’ abilities. In spite of that missing element, he said that the first remote show went off without any major hitches in large part, thanks to the hard work of its production team.
