Two more singers were sent home on Top 9 American Idol 2026 after the April 13 episode of American Idol narrowed the field from 11 performers to nine. Viewers voted throughout the show, and the two artists with the fewest votes were eliminated at the end of the night.
The episode asked the remaining 11 artists to tackle songs by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and the performances gave each singer a chance to make a case before the votes were counted. Chris Tungseth sang Foreigner’s “Cold as Ice,” Rae took on Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park,” Braden Rumfelt performed Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” Brooks chose Nico’s “These Days,” and Daniel Stallworth went with Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” for his Top 11 song.
Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie gave feedback after each performance, and their comments carried the kind of weight that often shapes a live-results night. Underwood praised one singer’s song choice and energy, calling it one of her favorite performances from him, while telling another that the performance was dramatic in the right places and that she still did not know what the song meant, even though the singer had done a great job. Bryan told another contestant he loved how the front of the performance was kept down before it opened up into the song’s energy, and Richie urged one singer to trust himself, take a chance and, in another line, to put some barbecue sauce on his career.
That April 13 show came a week after Jesse Findling’s elimination left 11 artists in the competition, so every performance carried immediate stakes. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame theme also gave the episode a broader frame than a routine cutdown night, with each singer trying to stand out before the field moved on to the Top 9.
The night’s tension was simple and brutal: the performances were not just for the panel, but for the audience at home, and the final vote left no room for anything but the bottom two. With the competition now trimmed to nine, the next round will test which singers can turn one strong theme night into sustained support from viewers.
