American Idol season 24 resumes Monday night with Mississippi native Daniel Stallworth vying to be in the show’s Top 5, and he needs viewers to help get him there. The inaugural Celebrating Taylor Swift on American Idol episode begins at 7 p.m. CT on ABC.
Each of the remaining seven contestants will sing a Taylor Swift hit of their choice during the two-hour showing. Fans can cast up to 50 votes for their favorite performer, with votes counted in real time and voting open from 7 p.m. CT until the final commercial break. By the end of the episode, the field will narrow from seven to five.
Stallworth, 28, is from Moss Point and later graduated from Alcorn State University, where he served as chair of the gospel choir. He now works as an elementary music teacher outside Houston, Texas. His musical path started early: his family noticed his talent when he was a toddler beating on pots and pans in the kitchen, his mother signed him up for lessons, and he began singing in church before learning piano around age 15.
Before American Idol, Stallworth had already built tens of thousands of followers online by posting videos of himself singing. He has said he leans gospel, and that background has shaped a run that has taken him through Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, Miley Cyrus’ The Climb, Lionel Richie’s All Night Long, Ben E. King’s Stand By Me, Lenny Kravitz’s It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over, Blessing Offor’s Brighter Days, and Brad Kane and Lea Salonga’s A Whole New World.
His push toward the Top 5 also keeps Mississippi’s recent Idol streak alive. Stallworth is the fourth Magnolia State native in the past four seasons to make it this far on the show. Monroe County’s Colin Stough and Zachariah Smith both reached the Top 5 in season 21, while Meridian’s Jamal Roberts won season 23 after also working as an elementary teacher during his Idol run. Roberts was the first Mississippi winner since Amory’s Trent Harmon won season 15, and McComb’s La’Porsha Renae finished as runner-up that same season.
For Stallworth, Monday’s vote is the only thing standing between the Top 7 and the Top 5, and the window is short. Viewers have three ways to vote — online, by text message and on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok — before the season 24 field is cut down from 127 after auditions to five by the end of the night.