Catie decided to perform an original song for the judges and told them that she’d be singing, “21st Century Machine.” When Katy asked her what the song would be about, Catie gave a little insight into it. “It kind of is about how media affected me as an impressionable young child and kind of my bitterness to it.” Even though she only sang a few bars, the judges were instantly hooked on Catie’s original tune. Katy told the teenager: “You’re a spectacular songwriter. I love where you mind’s at. Of course, after all of those positive comments, the three judges said yes to Catie!

For her American Idol 2018 Showcase performance, Ada Vox picked Radiohead’s song “Creep.” The 1993 hit is a very mellow and soft rock song. It was the debut single for Radiohead and helped them launch into superstardom. After a failed run on American Idol in 2012, Ada struggled with online bullying and felt that she didn’t belong anywhere. Ada was able to make the lyrics to “Creep” her own and she had the audience and judges on their feet shouting for her.

When Harper Grace (then Harper Gruzins) was 11 years old, she sang the “Star Spangled Banner” at a nationally televised soccer game and it was dubbed the “worst version of the National Anthem” ever. As an adult, Harper made it to Hollywood on American Idol after getting the Golden Ticket and in order to keep moving forward in the competition, she had to put her best foot forward. For her solo performance, she decided to sing an original song for the judges, something that she dedicated to an ex-boyfriend. Harper didn’t give any false impression of what the song was about, as it is titled “R.I.P.” Katy, Bryan, and judge Lionel Richie all agreed that her song was good. Luke felt that Harper’s decision to sing an original song made her a stand out.

Marcio Donaldson walked into his audition with his son on his hip and a big story to tell. His childhood was not easy and even as a 28-year-old, he is still getting curveballs in life. While he was growing up in the foster system in Compton, California, he took refuge in his music. Music helped Marcio, but his sister struggled with drug addiction and when she had a baby, her addiction issues wound up getting him taken away from her. That is where Marcio got involved. All it took was one look at his nephew and Marcio knew he had to take him in as his son. Marcio brought his son with him to his audition, as a bit of good luck for himself, and to show his son what he is capable of. For his audition, Marcio chose the song “Jealous” by Labrinth which impressed judge Katy Perry.

For the themed night, Michael J. Woodard sang the theme song to Beauty and the Beast, “Tale as Old as Time.” He certainly didn’t sound like Angela Lansbury while singing it, but that is a good thing. Katy Perry (dress in a Snow White costume, it is Disney night after all) had to sing her praises for Michael. “My angel. I love you so much. You really make my heart smile. And for me, you kind of fight in between a Michael Jackson and a Frank Ocean.” Michael was pretty much flabbergasted by Katy’s praise, which he seemed to think was too high, but seeing as Katy is an international pop star, we’ll take her word.

17-year-old Gabby Barrett has always been a daddy’s girl and she loves her father. Her father is a maintenance man for Good Will during the day and at night he cleans apartments, which he has called “toilet cleaning.” Gabby felt that auditioning for American Idol would make a huge difference for her family and all of their lives. She started her audition with a Carrie Underwood song, but the judges made her pick a new song on the fly. Lionel explained the request: “You have to understand something, we are looking for you! We’re not looking for, as Luke would say, the jukebox. Every time you go and say ‘I’m gonna sing a Carrie song,’ you go to the personality.” As if her audition wasn’t a big enough whirlwind, Katy wanted to take things a step further. She wanted to prank Gabby’s dad!

After admitting he’d never in a relationship and never kissed a girl during his audition, Benjamin Glaze got the chance of a lifetime. Katy Perry pretty much demanded that his first kiss be with her. With the support of Lionel and Luke, Benjamin finally kissed a girl! For his actual audition, Benjamin sang Nick Jonas’s hit song “Levels” to try and impress the three judges. Benjamin didn’t get a chance to actually prove himself in Hollywood, as the judges felt that he was being outsung, but he did have a very memorable audition.

17-year-old Taryn Coccia, she knew that she wanted to bring her older sister Payton Taylor along with her to her American Idol audition. For her audition, Taryn picked the song “Masterpiece” by Jessie J, for which she sang and her sister Payton played the guitar. She got through her planned audition and right after Taryn was done singing, Katy Perry turned to Lionel Richie and started whispering. Lionel then asked Payton is she sings and if she has sung with Taryn already. Katy explained that the reason she became a singer is that her older sister was a singer first. Payton decided to sing “Angel From Montgomery” by John Prine for the judges and they absolutely loved it.

As soon as Trevor Holmes walked into the room for his American Idol audition and Katy Perry was in love right away. As soon as she saw the hunk construction worker, her eyes lit up. But Trevor isn’t just a pretty face. Not only does he have a good voice, he also has a huge heart. He told the judges that he’s working as a construction worker to be able to afford taking care of his mom, who suffers from lupus. He is a part-time singer-songwriter, part-time construction work to pay the bills. To capture the hearts of all three judges, Trevor sang Brett Young’s hit song “In Case You Didn’t Know.”

For the live finale of American Idol, the competition was as intense as can be. Who was going to be crowned the winner? Caleb Lee Hutchinson and Maddie Poppe were working against each other to win the grand prize, but in order to do that, they needed to work together. The singers had were tasked with singing a duet for the finale. The first song they had to tackle was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which was truly magical. But that wasn’t the only song they sang. They beautifully infused “What a Wonderful World” into their duet and made the two songs sound like they were meant to be sung together. After watching this, it comes as no surprise that Caleb was the runner-up and Maddie Poppe was the season 16 winner of American Idol.