Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie Perform “Jesus Is Love” With ‘American Idol’s Top 20

Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie just gave the Top 20 contestants of American Idol season 24 something to remember.

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At the top of the show’s March 30 episode, Bryan and Richie took the stage alongside the season’s remaining contestants. The group delighted audiences with a performance of “Jesus Is Love.”

After the performance, Bryan took to Instagram to gush, “Singing #JesusIsLove with some people I love.” The song fit perfectly into the night’s theme, Songs of Faith.

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Before the contestants’ individual performances could begin, though, there was some business to take care of. Host Ryan Seacrest took the stage to reveal the season’s Top 14, and send six people packing.

Those people were voted through by America, following the Top 20’s performances in Hawaii, which aired over the last two weeks. Unfortunately, Abayomi, Makiyah, Madison Moon, Ruby Rae, Genevieve Heyward, and Kutter Bradley were sent home.

What to Know About American Idol‘s Songs of Faith Week

The remaining contestants then took the stage, performing faith-filled songs by artists including Rascal Flatts, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Brandon Lake, Coldplay, Cody Johnson, and others.

All the while, America made their voice heard, as they voted on who would make it into the Top 12. Seacrest was slated to reveal the results at the end of the live episode, but things didn’t exactly go as planned.

Instead of revealing the Top 12, after the performances, Seacrest announced that an “unprecedented” amount of votes—10 million to be exact—rolled in. That made it impossible to tabulate the results in time for air.

“We will not be announcing the elimination tonight,” he said. “First time it’s ever happened. Believe me, I’ve been here every night. We want to make sure we get every vote counted.”

Now, Seacrest will reveal the Top 12 at the top of next week’s episode.

As fans eagerly await next week’s results, they can get even more Idol by tuning into the show’s official podcast, which is hosted by Danielle Fishel.

The podcast will explore the performances everyone’s talking about and offer exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes insights, and expert analysis of the judges’ critiques.

Next week, the contestants will compete in the Judges’ Song Contest. During the episode, they’ll perform ’90s hits secretly picked by Bryan, Richie, or Carrie Underwood.

During the episode, stars of ABC’s TGIF ’90s lineup will hang with the hopefuls in the lounge as America votes for the Top 11.

American Idol airs Mondays on NBC.

Photo by Disney/Eric McCandless