The American Idol Top 4 contestants will each be performing three songs on Sunday, including duet performances, and the song choices have now been revealed. Last time on Idol, the Top 7 performed two songs for the first time this season. First, they took on Coldplay's catalog and then delivered Mother's Day dedications. At the end of the night, comeback winner Arthur Gunn and Hunter Metts were eliminated from the competition, leaving fans with five singers to choose from. Days later, Caleb Kennedy quit American Idol after a racist KKK-themed video surfaced online. As a result, only one singer will be eliminated at the end of the penultimate season 19 episode instead of two.
The remaining finalists have teamed up with big-time music producers to record and release original songs, otherwise known as the winner's singles. Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Ian Fitchuk and Ross Copperman are among the group of producers and songwriters who will lend their expertise on American Idol. Gunn and Metts were still in the competition when the producers worked with the contestants, so they will also release their songs, even though they won't be featured on American Idol. The Top 4 will perform these tunes on Sunday night, under the mentorship of songwriter/producer Finneas.
There will be three rounds of performances. One is the winner's single. Another round will see the finalists perform songs by their personal idols. And then they will partner up to cover Finneas' music. According to Billboard, these are the songs that the American Idol Top 4 will perform next: Casey Bishop (Billie Eilish's "Wish You Were Gay" and single "Love Me, Leave Me"), Chayce Beckham (Zac Brown Band's "Colder Weather" and single "23"), Grace Kinstler (Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" and single "Love Someone") and Willie Spence (John Legend and Common's "Glory" and single "Never Be Alone"). For the Finneas covers, Bishop and Beckham are duetting on "Break My Heart Again," while Kinstler and Spence are pairing up for "What They'll Say About Us."
This past week, Coldplay performed their new single after lead singer Chris Martin mentored the American Idol contestants. The same thing is going to happen next time. Guest mentor Finneas will take to the stage with Ashe to perform their single "Till Forever Falls Apart." Finneas produced Ashe's EPs. He's most well-known for co-writing and producing Eilish's albums; the two are siblings.
This is the first time the contestants will be performing three songs in one episode. And it's the first time in the history of American Idol that they are performing their coronation songs before finale week. It will be interesting to see if any of those singles do well on any digital charts like Apple Music. It so, it could potentially foreshadow who ends up winning season 19.
As for the personal idol songs, it's not surprising that 16-year-old Bishop has chosen to cover a song by Eilish considering how popular the "Bad Guy" singer is with younger listeners. Kinstler taking on the original American Idol coronation song with Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" will be fascinating to watch. Nobody can match Clarkson's version, but Kinstler loves performing ballads and songs that show off her powerhouse voice. And Spence performing the Oscar-winning hit from Selma could be the showstopper of the night. They only have one more chance to make it into the finale, so they can't hold anything back now.
American Idol airs Sundays at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ABC.
Source: Billboard