American Idol 2020 Contestants: Top 10 Winner Predictions

Last week, the American Idol contestants competed for viewer votes during the Top 20 finals. Tonight, the top 10 contestants will be announced and then perform.

For the first time ever last week, Idol was able to reach their audience from the homes of the judges, host, and in-house mentor as well as air performances filmed in the homes of the Top 20 contestants.

The Top 10 contestants will be announced tonight, May 3, 2020 during the “home”-themed episode. After the Top 10 are announced, the winners will go on to perform a song inspired by their hometown and compete for votes to make it through to the next round.

‘American Idol’ 2020 Top 10: Predictions

Since American Idol is always full of surprises, it’s not easy to predict who will be making it through to the next round, especially when taking into account the fact that the contestant pool is being cut in half. This season has been filled with so much incredible talent, but we have some ideas about who will get enough votes to make it through to the Top 10.

• Jovin Webb from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He sang “With a Little Help from My Friends” by Joe Cocker for the Top 20 performance, and the judges were all thoroughly impressed. Luke said Jovin’s voice can “stop people in their tracks” and complimented his enduring talent.
• Louis Knight, the fan and judge-favorite contestant, performed from his bedroom for the chance to get into the Top 10. He sang “If the World Was Ending” by JP Saxe ft. Julia Michaels, featuring himself and his keyboard.  Before even being asked to give their constructive criticism, all the judges were impressed. Luke said he thought the song choice was great and he has never been more proud of the singer and Lionel called Louis’s falsetto “stellar.”
• Faith Becnel performed from her garage, singing “River” by Bishop Briggs. She showed off her powerful vocals and delivered a memorable performance. Lionel told her that she should look into the camera more often but commented that he loved her delivery. Luke said they’ve heard the song many times but hers was his favorite rendition so far, and Katy said this was the first performance where she felt better about Faith’s vibrato.
• Lauren Spencer-Smith sang “Mamma Knows Best” by Jessie J, and she was performing outside her home in a space that was so beautiful it looked like she was in front of a green screen. This performance was seriously impressive since Lauren is so young. Katy commented that she’d “somehow figured out how to grow” even during a quarantine.
• Dillon James sang “Let it Be Me” by Ray Lamontagne last week. He took off the cowboy hat and played the acoustic guitar while sitting in front of a cabin in his yard. Lionel said that Dillon’s “look, sound, attitude and presentation” made him look like a “world-class artist,” and Luke said it was like “stamp, artist. Cut a record.”
• Arthur Gunn shocked everyone at auditions, and for last week’s performance, he sang “Lovin’ Machine” by Wynonie Harri. He brought the same tone and powerful voice to this performance that he has to all the others, but he seemed to have the same issue other contestants had about not wanting to look directly into the camera on the iPhone during the performance. The judges all said they danced along with the performance, but Katy did say that he needed to look at the camera more often. “At the same time, your complete shyness is your secret weapon,” Lionel remarked, and Luke said he was very impressed with Arthur’s natural ability.
• Julia Gargano performed “Human” by Christina Perri. The judges said she was “great,” and Luke said he believed they’d seen “five superstars in a row” tonight, remarking that he has no idea how America will vote this week. Lionel said the performance was “amazing,” and Katy said that she “checks all the boxes.”
• Grace Leer sang “Cry” by Faith Hill for her performance from her yard, and her voice was on point as well as her eye contact with the cameras. Lionel said “We’re not just finding singers, we’re discovering true artists,” after her performance. Katy loved how big the performance got at the end and said she thinks Grace could be a “big country star.” Luke said that the first part of the performance lacked something but got amazing halfway through until the end.
• Just Sam stayed in California after the rest of the contestants went home instead of heading back to New York, and she performed “I Believe” by Fantasia for her solo last week. She’s such a fan-favorite that even if this performance weren’t as strong as it was, it’d be likely that she was going to make it through. Katy said the performance was “really beautiful,” and Luke said Sam owns every aspect of her voice and has grown her confidence.
• Jonny West performed with his keyboard from his couch, and he sang “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. Luke said Jonny would be able to take his career wherever he wanted to take it, Katy gushed over Jonny, and Lionel said Jonny had an amazing arsenal of tools for making it in the music industry. “It was so moving, it was so emotional,” Katy said, continuing to say it was one of her top two favorite performances of the day.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see some shake-ups over the above list because of the sheer amount of talent in this year’s Idol pool. For instance, if Nick Merico or Franklin Boone are announced as part of the top 10, that should not be a shocker for anyone.

Vote Via Text Message, on the App or Online

There are three separate ways to vote for your favorite contestants. First, you can vote at AmericanIdol.com/vote or download the American Idol text. The other convenient way to vote is via text message. For texting, you simply text the number of the contestant you would like to vote for to “21523.”

The numbers for the contestants tonight are:

Kimmy Gabriela: text “1” to 21523
Jovin Webb: text “2” to 21523
Franklin Boone: text “3” to 21523
Olivia Ximines: text “4” to 21523
Louis Knight: text “5” to 21523
Makayla Phillips: text “6” to 21523
Aliana Jester: text “7” to 21523
Faith Becnel: text “8” to 21523
Nick Merico: text “9” to 21523
Lauren Spencer-Smith: text “10” to 21523
Cyniah Elise: text “11” to 21523
Francisco Martin: text “12” to 21523
Sophia James: text “13” to 21523
DeWayne Crocker Jr.: text “14” to 21523
Dillon James: text “15” to 21523
Arthur Gunn: text “16” to 21523
Julia Gargano: text “17” to 21523
Grace Leer: text “18” to 21523
Just Sam: text “19” to 21523
Jonny West: text “20” to 21523

Tune into American Idol tonight, Sunday, May 3 at 8 p.m. on ABC to see if our predictions for the top 10 are correct.

Louis Knight “Wasn’t Sure” He Wanted to Audition for ‘American Idol’