American Idol has crowned its new winner after the 2019 season — returner Laine Hardy.
The Louisiana native was voted Season 17’s champion after competing against fellow finalists Alejandro Aranda and Madison VanDenberg during the three-hour finale, with VanDenburg being eliminated midway through the episode during a vote check-in.
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Throughout the star-studded finale, Hardy performed a medley of “Night Shift” and “Dirt On My Boots” with country singer Jon Pardi. He also made his way back to his bayou roots with “Jambalaya” by Hank Williams and “Home” by Marc Broussard.
Other stars who took the stage were the Idol judges themselves: Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. Richie kicked off the night with a massive performance of “Dancing on the Ceiling” with the Top 10 performers of the season, while Perry paired up with Daddy Yankee to perform a wig-tastic version of her new song with Daddy Yankee, “Con Calma,” and also sang alongside former contestant Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon for her hit “Unconditionally.”
Bryan, meanwhile, took the stage to perform his new single “Knockin’ Boots” and later “Every Breath You Take” with Top 5 performer Laci Kaye Booth.
Other fan-favorites who didn’t make it to the end of the season also performed during the finale, including Alyssa Raghu, who sang alongside country singer Kane Brown for “Good As You” and “Lost in the Middle of Nowhere.” Wade Cota and Walker Burroughs teamed up with Weezer to perform a medley of their covers of “Africa,” “Take on Me” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” while Margie Mays and Austin Michael joined Montell Jordan for his legendary hit “This Is How We Do It.”
Idol alum Adam Lambert sang his new single “New Eyes” before performing a truncated version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” with axed Idol contestant Demetrius Graham, and last year’s Idol winner Maddie Poppe also made a brief appearance with host Ryan Seacrest to plug her debut album, Whirlwind, which was released on Friday.
One of the show’s most famous champions, Carrie Underwood, also made a special performance in the midst of her Cry Pretty Tour 360 to sing her new single, “Southbound.”
Hardy and Aranda are headed to New York City straight from the season finale in Los Angeles for a Monday morning full of interviews.
Last week, ABC announced it would be renewing American Idol for its 18th season (the third on ABC), with the next season expected to premiere in January 2020.
