Luke Bryan Breaks Down the ‘Hard Work’ Behind ‘American Idol’

With the second season of American Idol soon to be underway with audition across the U.S., country megastar Luke Bryan is looking forward to sitting back down with his fellow reality TV judges, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry.

“I’m excited,” Bryan told iHeartRadio (quote via Taste of Country). “I had a good time doing it. It was fun. It was fun watching the kids compete.”

But while the first season of the ABC reboot was fun and full of surprises, Bryan says it’s a whole lot of hard work when it comes to production and talent.

“The auditions are about 12, 13 hours and they are long but they are fun,” Bryan said. “It’s so exciting because you are giving people tickets to Hollywood and all that, so it flies by. We are locked in and focused on what we are doing.”

Bryan adds that there is a silver lining in the process though, noting that live broadcasts help make things go by like a breeze.

“When we get to live recordings, those are only two hours, so after two months of 12 hour days when we get to lives, it’s like it flies by and you don’t even know it. It’s like you are on vacation,” he jokes.

After crowning the competition’s latest winner, Maddie Poppe, this past May, Idol auditions are set to take place this August. Host Ryan Seacrest revealed the schedule this past June, with a long list of all the cities auditioning talent.

“New shipment of golden tickets just arrived and we’re ready to hand them out again. See you soon,” Seacrest wrote.

The first season of American Idol on ABC, its 16th overall, ended with Poppe of Clarksville, Iowa winning, and Caleb Lee Hutchinson coming in second. During the finale, the two revealed they are dating.

The judges for ABC’s incarnation of the once-powerful Fox juggernaut will featured judge, Bryan, Perry and Richie, all three of whom agreed to return for the second season.

“We knew that American Idol on ABC would unleash an opportunity for singers from all walks of life to realize their dreams and that these incredible contestants would have America rooting for their success,” Channing Dungey, ABC Entertainment president, said in a statement on May 4, announcing the renewal. “I am thrilled that Katy, Luke, Lionel and Ryan will be back to once again embark on this Idol journey with us to discover the next crop of inspiring talent.”

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