Only three contestants remain in season 23 of “American Idol,” and their fans will have to vote fast to give them a shot at winning during the live, three-hour show on May 18, 2025.
Finalists John Foster, Breanna Nix, and Jamal Roberts will each do their best to earn viewers’ votes during the three-hour show. But if producers follow the format of past finales, early votes will determine who lands in third place, likely to be announced by host Ryan Seacrest halfway through the show.
Meanwhile, for those who’ve expressed concerns about the fairness of live voting, giving fans just two or three hours to cast their votes during the live shows, longtime showrunner Megan Wolflick has tried to put those fears to rest.
Early Voting Will Help ‘American Idol’ Finalists Make Top 2
During the May 18 finale, the top 3 will sing multiple songs and will be joined onstage by the season’s top 14 contestants, celebrity performers, and even judges Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, and Lionel Richie.
Voting will open at the start of the episode at 8 p.m. Eastern time, per ABC, and will close during the last commercial break, around 10:50 p.m. Eastern time. The show airs live coast-to-coast, so fans on the West Coast must tune in and vote starting at 5 p.m. Pacific.
Once again, viewers have three ways to vote. You can cast up to 10 votes for each of your favorite singers on each platform, totaling up to 30 votes per contestant. During their hometown trips earlier in the week, the top 3 urged their fans to use all three platforms to ensure they could cast the most votes possible.
The first way to vote is through ABC’s website. The second way is via the “American Idol” app, either via Apple for iPhones or via Google for Androids. Both the site and the app require signing in; you can create a free account that works for both or use an existing MyDisney account.
On the website and app, you do not have to wait until your favorite singer performs to vote for them. But if you change your mind as the show goes on, you can change your votes as long as you click to “save” your changes before voting ends for the night.
The third way to vote is by texting a favorite contestant’s unique contestant number, which has not changed since the beginning of the competition. As with the other voting options, you can cast up to 10 votes for each contestant you think should advance in the competition.
The contestants’ unique numbers are below, in alphabetical order:
- Breanna Nix — Text 9 to 21523
- Jamal Roberts — Text 12 to 21523
- John Foster — Text 13 to 21523
Typically, the third-place singer is announced halfway through the show. So, the top two contestants are determined by the earliest votes of the evening.
Is Live Voting Fair to ‘American Idol’ Contestants?
EntertainmentNOW/DisneyRather than giving viewers overnight to vote for their favorite contestants, a strategy that shows like “The Voice” typically use, “American Idol” fans have to cast their votes during a short window, while the show is airing live. The results are announced in real time, at the end of the show.
Some fans have expressed concern that the voting window is not long enough or is unfair for those who can’t watch live. But Wolflick, who’s been with the show since its inception, told Gold Derby on May 15 that they’ve found overnight voting versus live voting rarely makes an impact on results.
“It’s pretty consistent,” she told the outlet. “And I do think that people are now used to it, so they’re adjusted to the idea that, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to vote by the end of the show, or else that’s it.’ It’s pretty amazing that 22 million votes came in last week. The fact that we can still generate that amount of fan passion in that two-hour stretch is pretty awesome.”
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How to Vote During ‘American Idol’ 2025 Finale: Is Live Voting Fair?