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Published 12:21 IST, May 10th 2021

American Idol top 5 contestants declared: Find out who made it to the final list

American Idol's Mother's Day Dedication episode premiered live on ABC on May 9. Find out the top 5 contestants who made it to the final list.

Reported by: Naitri Patel
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American Idol
IMAGE: AMERICAN IDOL'S INSTAGRAM | Image: self

American Idol's Mother's Day special episode premiered live on ABC on May 9. The top 7 contestants Chayce Beckham, Caleb Kennedy, Grace Kinstler, Casey Bishop, Willie Spence, Hunter Metts, and previous season's returning aspirant Arthur Gunn, were mentored by Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin. The live two-hour episode found the semifinalists perform a song dedicated to their loved ones in honor of Mother's Day and also a second tune from the Coldplay catalogue. Find out who all made it to the top 5 of the singing reality show.

A look at the top 5 American Idol contestants

Casey Bishop

One of the youngest contestants Casey Bishop, 16, performed a song that mentor Chris Martin thought was a lot like her, his 2011 song Paradise. One of the three judges, pop singer Katy Perry heaped praises for her song and said it was great to see her let loose in the middle of that song and said she wanted more of the tornado effect but called it overall a "perfect" performance. In the second hour of the show, Casey performed Alanis Morissette's Ironic that had all the three judges and her mom dancing.

Chayce Beckam

Chayce Beckam kickstarted his evening performance with Chris Martin's Magic and said he will remember that day forever. The judges praised his artistic performance and appreciated how he effortlessly incited big vocal moments in the song. In the second hour, he sang his own song for Mother's day song and called it "Momma". Lionel Riche said he had him crying while Katy Perry said he had her mother's vote.

Willie Spence

Before performing, Willie Spence said he chose Yellow for his Coldplay song because of his own insecurities and the song touched him. After his performance, Lionel Riche heaped praises for him and said he owned the song and he took the song and turned it into "Willie's song". Lionel described his performance to be a "religious experience". Spence sang You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker for the Mother's Day special part which had his mom Sharon crying in response to her son’s tribute to her.

Caleb Kennedy

Caleb was honest about his performance and said it was hard for him to pick a Coldplay song because he never listened to the band. He sang Violet Hill by the band which seemed to lose edge towards the end. Judge Luke Bryan said that his first 20 seconds looked like he was ready to overthrow the galaxy of music. However, he made a strong comeback with his mother's day special Mama Said to which Katy Perry said he looked "bright and better".

Arthur Gunn

The previous season contestant Arthur Gunn opened his evening performance with Martin's In My Place, however, he opted for changing the melody. While judges appreciated his artistry they advised him "play along" once in a while. His Mother's Day dedication song was  Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man which was less appreciated by judges. However, they did feel he chose the right voice for the song.

IMAGE: AMERICAN IDOL'S INSTAGRAM

Updated 12:21 IST, May 10th 2021