"Had the reins" - American Idol judge Luke Bryan on his 'gut' feeling about Jamal Roberts' potential victory

Jamal Roberts has been winning hearts since he stepped foot on American Idol, and this time is no exception. The singer has become a fan favorite, which has led him to land a spot in the Top 3. The next episode of the show will determine whether or not he wins among the group that also includes John Foster and Breanna Nix.

Each judge had a little something to say about Jamal and Luke Bryan in particular, and made a prediction similar to what Simon Cowell did back when Carrie Underwood was still on the show 20 years ago. Simkn had said that Carrie would go on to win American Idol and then end up selling more albums than any of the idols have ever done before.

This time, taking Simon's place is Luke Bryan, and instead of Carrie, it is Jamal Roberts. The judge said that he has a "gut" feeling that the contestant might win the season. Everything depends on the vote cast by America, but he still feels that Jamal has the potential to take the title home.

Back on May 12, when American Idol aired its penultimate episode that had put Jamal Roberts in the finale with John and Breanna, Luke shared a piece of his opinion with People. He said,

"My gut has told me Jamal has... [been] a lead all year. When you look at every time Breanna gets through, we're like, 'She keeps showing up and making it happen.' And then John Foster just seems to be gaining momentum."

Continuing, he added,

"Even if it's something that Jamal's kind of had the reins of, it could change with a little bit of not focus[ing] ... so they gotta be focused all the way to the end. The music business is never like that. You've gotta focus every day."

American Idol - Judge Lionel Richie chimes in with his opinion

Lionel Richie also voiced his opinion on the future winner of American Idol this season. He says that the winner might not be the one who is the most talented, but the one who is the most popular.

Lionel says that the audience is currently discovering their next favorite artists as they sing covers on the series. Their career, according to him, will start building when they have their own hit records.

The season also features Carrie Underwood, who herself has been through the entire American Idol journey and has now returned as a judge. She commented that the process is a lot longer than when she was here. She expressed,

"I would imagine they feel more frenzied than I felt about the whole situation. It's a totally different block out. You're going to be doing a lot, going back to their own towns and everyone's going to be on them.

She continued by saying,

This is kind of a taste of what the rest of their career is gong to be like. We always call this star boot camp because you learn a lot really fast."

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American Idol season 23 finale will drop on May 19, 2025, at 8 PM Eastern Time on ABC. Later, the episode will be available to stream via Hulu.

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