McCullough earned his Platinum Ticket through a vote by his peers, while Brooks Rosser was selected by the “Ohana,” and Inskeep scored hers from the “industry tastemakers.”
Jordan McCullough, Brooks Rosser and Kyndal Inskeep were chosen as the recipients of Platinum Tickets on American Idol during the first-ever “Ohana Round” on Monday, March 9. The trio of Idol hopefuls were selected through a unique voting process involving their fellow contestants, family members of the contestants, and industry tastemakers and experts.
“The brand new ‘Ohana Round,’ all 30 of our Idol hopefuls have performed and now it’s time to whittle them down to the top 20 who get the chance to sing for America’s vote,” Idol host Ryan Seacrest stated before explaining, “There are three platinum tickets up for grabs… But for the first time ever, it’s not the judges making the final call. The first will be chosen by the industry tastemakers. The second by the ‘Ohana,’ the family members, and the third platinum ticket by their peers, our Idol hopefuls.”
Ryan Seacrest also explained the voting rules, noting that family members were not allowed to vote for their own relative and instead had to cast their vote for another Idol hopeful whose performance they loved the most. Secrest continued, “It’s really about whose performance moved them the most. It is a gut wrenching decision to have to make.”
The Idol host then unveiled the Platinum ticket winners. “This is an unprecedented and first look at which contestants have the ability to move other people. So let’s reveal the results for our platinum ticket winners,” Seacrest added.
Jordan McCullough earned his Platinum Ticket through a vote by his peers, fellow American Idol hopefuls, while Brooks Rosser was selected by the contestants’ family members, known as the “Ohana.” Kyndal Inskeep received her Platinum ticket from a panel of “industry tastemakers,” including influencer duo Kaniyia Brown and Terry McCaskill, music creator Anthony Gargiula, actress Loren Gray, podcast host Evan Ross Katz, vocal coach Cheryl Porter, Grand Ole Opry announcer Kelly Sutton and Rolling Stone co–editor-in-chief Shirley Halperin.
It was then time for the Idol judges to make decisions. “Let’s hear one more time for the Platinum Ticket winners. With the three Platinum ticket spots safely secured, the judges must now choose the remaining 17 hopefuls to complete our Top 20,” Seacrest said.
In addition to McCullough, Rosser, and Inskeep earning Platinum Tickets, the American Idol judges, Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan, hand selected 17 additional contestants from the remaining Top 30 hopefuls to round out the Top 20. Each judge revealed several of the finalists who will now move on to compete for America’s vote.
“This is the worst part [and] We did not take any of this lightly,” Underwood admitted, before Richie explained, “It’s not that we’re eliminating people who can’t sing. We’re now eliminating… because they might fall in the same category.”
Philmon Lee, Madison Moon, Braden Rumfelt, Jake Thistle, Jesse Findling, Ruby Rae, Genevieve Heyward, Lucas Leon, Hannah Harper, Chris Tungseth, Julian Kalel, Rae, Daniel Stallworth, Abiyomi, Kutter Bradley, Makiyah and Keyla Richardson were the 17 American Idol hopefuls chosen to round out the coveted Top 20.
“Take a look America, this is your Top 20 on American Idol,” Ryan Secrest revealed on the show after Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan revealed the fate of each contestant one by one.
Unfortunately, with the unveiling of the Top 20 that also meant that 10 contestants were sent home, including Chloe Lauren, Sheldon Riley, Bryant Thomas, Michael Garner, Bella Emry, Brenna Brigman, Kiera Howell, Brianna Yancey, Jacquie Lee and Tianna, who were eliminated from the competition.
Over the next two weeks, the Top 20 Idol hopefuls will perform for America’s votes at Disney’s Aulani Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawaii, competing for a spot in the next round with guidance from superstar mentors Brad Paisley and KeKe Palmer.
American Idol airs every Monday night at 8/7c on ABC, and is available to stream next day on Hulu.
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