‘American Idol’ Back on ABC Feb. 14

By Michael Malone
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Virtual auditions happened over Zoom, over the summer

American Idol on ABC
(Image credit: ABC)

Season four of American Idol is on ABC Feb. 14. Ryan Seacrest returns as host of the music competition show, and Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are back as judges. 

Bobby Bones returns as in-house mentor. 

Virtual auditions, under the title “Idol Across America,” began Aug. 10. 

American Idol was on Fox for 15 seasons and shifted to ABC in 2018. Seacrest has hosted since the beginning and Bryant, Perry and Richie joined in 2018. 

New York singer Just Sam won in 2020. 

American Idol is produced by Fremantle and Industrial Media’s 19 Entertainment. Fremantle’s Trish Kinane of Fremantle is showrunner and executive producer, and Jennifer Mullin, Megan Wolflick, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman executive produce as well. 

Michael Malone
Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.