Sunday was judge Katy Perry's emotional farewell night on American Idol, but the finale really was all about another California Gurl.
Katy ended her seven-season run in an almost ceremonially torch-passing manner, when Indio singer-songwriter Abi Carter became the 22nd American Idol winner, as well as the first female singer-songwriter/instrumentalist champ since Maddie Poppe won Katy's (and ABC's) very first season back in 2018.
Abi, who on Sunday's finale also became the first Platinum Ticket recipient to ever win Idol, was seemingly always a frontrunner, with both Katy and Lionel Richie declaring her audition of Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" the best they'd ever heard on this show. ("I've never heard the crew clap before," Luke Bryan also observed at that time, saying Abi "may be the winner.") Abi certainly received a winner's edit on that memorable episode, with a sentimental baby-photo slideshow and a mayor-officiated ceremony celebrating her in the streets of Palm Springs.
But during Sunday's final showdown, as Abi competed against the sort of contestants who typically win Idol — country-singing everyman Will Moseley, who placed second in what Ryan Seacrest called a "very tight race," and Americana WGWG Jack Blocker, who came in third — nothing was guaranteed. Only a half-hour into Sunday's three-hour finale, while the pumped-up studio audience was still chanting Abi's name, Katy even sternly warned America: "The room may be cheering, but if you're not voting, it doesn't mean anything. So, you better vote!"
It was at that point that a grinning Billie Eilish popped up on a video screen, right on cue, with a surprise message for Abi, gushing: "I'm so happy for you! ... I love you so much! ... I am here to support you, forever." That surely boosted Abi's coast-to-coast vote tally. But unlike last season, when Iam Tongi pretty much ran away with the competition from episode one, this season was a nail-biter and white-knuckler until the finale's dwindling minutes, when Ryan asked Tom to dim the lights one last time.
Before Abi went out in a blaze of glory, dropping to her knees and sobbing upon hearing Ryan announce her name, Jon Bon Jovi mentored the top three in the first hour, seeming a lot mellower and more open-minded than he was back in Season 6, when he was displeased by Blake Lewis's beatboxed "You Give Love a Bad Name" cover (which, much to Jon's surprise and maybe to his chagrin, ended up going down in history as one of most iconic Idol performances of all time). Sadly but unsurprisingly, no one covered "Runaway" Sunday, going with more familiar Bon Jovi anthems. And there was no beatboxing.
Will played it the most safe, of course, with "It's My Life" (Jon actually asked Will for "more teeth"). And even Jack's "I'll Be There for You," while sentimental and heartfelt, was less quirky than his usual shtick. Only Abi took a risk during this round, going "a little more indie, a little darker" on "Bed of Roses" — but this time, Jon was fully on board, telling her, "I want it to be yours now. Play it for me that way." And obviously, this risk paid off. After her dramatic and elegant piano performance, the entire studio audience was chanting Abi's name, while she tearfully told Ryan she was "unimaginably thankful."
For the hometown-dedication round, Will once again didn't take any chances, playing right to his base with Montgomery Gentry's "My Town" (one of Luke's favorite songs). Dallas-based Jack's hometown dedication, "All My Ex's Live In Texas," was more of a leftfield choice, and it was hoot. It was very Blasters/John Doe/Los Lobos, and very Jack, and just plain cool. "That right there is your bread and butter. ... That's what's gonna make you a star," Katy advised Jack, while Luke told him, "That may be the best thing I've seen you do all season."
As for Abi, she leaned into her Broadway side for her hometown song, "Somewhere" from West Side Story, seeming like a hipper Katharine McPhee. And it was at this point — even more so than when Billie Eilish Zoomed in with her ringing endorsement — that I sensed Luke's prophecy was about to come true. It already felt like Abi was singing her coronation song, as the judges rose to their feet and waited for what seemed like a full minute for the audience's chanting to die down so that they could audibly comment. "If you win American Idol, the bar's going to be set so high [for future champions]," Katy declared.
I feel "All My Ex's" should have gotten Jack into the top two, but maybe this face-puller was still a bit too weird for prime time. But considering that Jack was never supposed to make it this far in the first place — Katy and Lionel initially said no to his audition, and Jack only scraped through after the Idol crew staged a "managerial mutiny" and convinced Lionel to change his vote — he did pretty well. And I think the crew was right, even if two of the judges (and a lot of America's voters) got it wrong. Katy actually came around so full-circularly that for her last-ever performance on Idol, she joined Jack to sing "What Makes a Woman." (If you want to keep supporting Jack, go check out what would have been his winner's single, "All of Yours," which he wrote for a woman in Texas who's definitely not his ex: his supportive wife.)
As for Will, he also almost didn't go down this path at all. After earning a college degree in biology in May 2023 (yes, exactly one year ago), he gave himself one year after graduation to pursue music. Now he may never need to rely on that diploma to earn a living, and he'll probably never become a biologist (although I suppose it's wise to have a career plan B, since not all Idol runners-up go on to success). Unlike Abi, who cowrote her fittingly titled coronation song "This Isn't Over," and Jack, who was the sole writer of his single, Will didn't write his winner's single, "Good Book Bad." But his self-penned audition song, "Gone for Good," was a stunner (I wonder why Will never did any other originals this season?), and it peaked at No. 2 on the iTunes Country Chart between Beyoncé and Luke Combs. So, Big Mo does have long-term career potential. What a difference a year makes.
Whatever happens for the top three — or for the dozens of contestants from the past seven seasons whose faces emblazoned Katy's giant hoop skirt during her performance with Jack — a glowed-up Fantasia Barrino, who incredibly won 20 (yes, twenty) years ago, let everyone know that "this show opens doors." Triumphantly returning to the Idol stage as a Golden Globe nominee, Grammy winner, and Broadway/movie star, Fantasia declared, "I never gave up, even when doors were closed in my face. I knew that God had something for me. ... I went through a lot of things, but here I stand, better than ever. And I never changed for anybody."
Other highlights of Sunday's broadcast included contestant/superstar duets between Jayna Elise and Seal, Roman Collins and CeCe Winans, Loretta's Lynn's granddaughter Emmy Russell and fellow family country singer Wynonna Judd, and Kayko with New Kids on the Block (aka the sextet "New Kayko on the Block"). But when Abi led the top 12's girls on a Katy Perry medley, it was a perfect sendoff, as Katy stood on the judges' desk, Dead Poets Society-style, and literally roared in approval.
American Idol returns in spring 2025, with a new, yet-to-be-determined judge sitting behind that desk.
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