'American Idol' judges hint at frontrunners ahead of Top 12 vote

The frontrunners are becoming apparent as "American Idol" prepares for its contestant pool to dwindle down to 12 finalists.

As the second half of the Top 20 performed during "ohana week" in the March 23 episode, judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan (and guest judge Keke Palmer) made some major claims about some of the Season 24 frontrunners.

Bryan called Rae "one of our best singers" and declared Julián Kalel's Zach Bryan cover made him a "frontrunner of the competition," and Underwood predicted Abayomi is "a Disney star in the making." Meanwhile, Richie couldn't help himself as he declared one singer delivered "the greatest performance I have ever seen on this stage."

With all 20 singers' "ohana week" performances finished, viewers are tasked with voting for who will make it to the Top 12.

Carrie Underwood proclaims 'I love my husband!' after complimenting 'sexy' singer

After Chris Tungseth, a construction tradesman from Minnesota, put his own unique spin on the OneRepublic hit "Apologize," Underwood paid a compliment that she appeared to immediately regret.

"You’ve got this mysterious, sexy vibe going, and I feel like you need to know that," she told Chris, before following up with an apology. "Sorry if that was weird! I’m sorry; I love my husband!"

Her fellow judge backed her up: "I see it. I know what she’s talking about," Bryan said.

Chris not only received positive feedback from the judges, but also OneRepublic's frontman and prolific songwriter Ryan Tedder. Host Ryan Seacrest pulled Tedder for a FaceTime call, in which he told Chris he'd heard a bit of his warmup earlier in the day.

Lionel Richie is beside himself over 'the greatest performance I have ever seen'

The episode closed with a standout performance of "With a Little Help from My Friends" from Keyla Richardson, whom Palmer tearfully declared had an "ancestral" voice while meeting her in rehearsals.

As Keyla ran around the stage in a black dress adorned with crosses, Richie and Palmer clasped their hands in excitement.

"I've been on 'American Idol' since I was that big," Richie told Keyla, jokingly indicating a child's height. "I have never had any contestant walk out on this stage and tear the place up. The place got blown up."

He continued, "That Janis Joplin-sounding, Tina Turner-sounding – I don’t know who you are. But that right there was the greatest performance I have ever seen on this stage."

Palmer went so far as to make a comparison to an early "Idol" star, saying, "The last time I’ve seen somebody make me feel like this and get people turned up like this, her name was Fantasia Barrino, and she won 'American Idol.'"

How to vote for 'American Idol'

Longtime "Idol" viewers should know that the show got rid of its app, so voting is now available only through the website, over text and via social media comments. You can vote up to 10 times per contestant per platform until 6 a.m. Tuesday, March 24.

• Website: idolvote.abc.com
• Text message: 21523
• Social media: Comment the singer's name on @AmericanIdol's official voting post on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

The results of the audience vote – and this year's Top 12 – will be revealed in the March 30 "Songs of Faith" episode, which kicks off Season 24's live shows.

Who's in the 'American Idol' Top 20 in 2026?

• Philmon Lee
• Madison Moon
• Braden Rumfelt
• Jake Thistle
• Jesse Findling
• Ruby Rae
• Genevieve Heyward
• Lucas Leon
• Hannah Harper
• Chris Tungseth
• Julián Kalel
• Rae
• Daniel Stallworth
• Abayomi
• Kutter Bradley
• Makiyah
• Keyla Richardson
• Jordan McCullough
• Brooks Rosser
• Kyndal Inskeep