The pressure is on as the Top 7 of “American Idol” season 24 compete for the final five spots on April 27, 2026. During the two-hour live episode, the remaining contestants will sing their hearts out, selecting hits from Taylor Swift’s iconic song catalog.
After performing for judges Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, and Lionel Richie, as well as guest judge Nikki Glaser (who’s a huge Swiftie), and with votes rolling in from viewers throughout the evening, the Top 7 will meet their fates at the end of the episode, learning from host Ryan Seacrest who’s going home and who’s moving on to the TOP 5. To see who got eliminated, scroll down to the bottom.
Who’s in the ‘American Idol’ 2026 Top 7?
DisneyIn addition to the Top 7 performing Taylor Swift tunes, they will also perform “songs from California’s biggest artists,” according to ABC, and Bryan plans to perform, too.
So who’s made it from thousands of auditions, to 138 singers at Hollywood Week, all the way into the Top 7? Here are the details on who remains…
Brooks Rosser
DisneyBROOKS ROSSER, 23, is from Baltimore, Maryland, and works at a memory care facility, where he often sings to the residents. But that’s the extent of his performance experience, as he’s told the judges that until “American Idol,” he’d never sung for an audience before.
Brooks’ unique voice has the judges spellbound and he’s also won the heart of Top 11 contestant Rae Boyd, also from the Baltimore area. They made their relationship official on the April 20 episode of “American Idol.”
Braden Rumfelt
DisneyBRADEN RUMFELT, 23, hails from Asheville, South Carolina. He turned to music after breaking his back twice playing sports, he told Billboard, but never imagined he was good enough to make it on “American Idol.”
In addition to making it to the Top 7, Braden told the outlet he feels like a winner because of the friendships he’s made with fellow contestants, something he doesn’t have a lot of back home. He said he’s grown especially close with Brooks, calling him “one of my favorite people on the planet.”
Hannah Harper
DisneyHANNAH HARPER, 25, is a stay-at-home mom from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where she lives with her husband and three boys, as well as a big extended family. She grew up touring the country with her family, playing and singing bluegrass.
Hannah’s original song “String Cheese,” about emerging from postpartum depression, went viral after she sang it for her “American Idol” audition, with more than 100 million views.
Chris Tungseth
DisneyCHRIS TUNGSETH, 27, grew up in a musical family in Le Sueur, Minnesota, where his mom was a piano teacher and his dad was an opera singer. Though he looks like a North Woods lumberjack, Chris has proven to have a big heart and a lot of empathy for others, having experienced the loss of his dad to cancer and being a caregiver for his mom, who has MS.
After losing his dad three years ago to cancer, Chris told Billboard, he went to school for a degree in exercise physiology with an emphasis on sports performance, focusing on being a strength coach. He was researching grad schools for physical therapy when the opportunity to be on “American Idol” fell in his lap — and the rest is history.
Keyla Richardson
DisneyKEYLA RICHARDSON, 29, is the oldest of the remaining contestants and knew this was her last shot at trying out for “American Idol.” The single mom from Pensacola, Florida, works as a music teacher at a school run by her parents, and is mom to nine-year-old Drew, who can often be seen singing along in the audience when she performs.
Noting that being along for the ride with his mom has deepened Drew’s love of music, she told Billboard, “I can tell now his love for music has grown. Seeing me on the stage has made him want to sing more and do more. I know he’s going to be a singer. He’s always encouraging me. He always asks me if I’m okay. I know he’s definitely going to do this, because it’s so important to him. I’ll ask him, ‘Are you the contestant or is Mommy the contestant?'”
Jordan McCullough
DisneyJORDAN MCCULLOUGH, 27, is a church worship leader in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, but told Billboard that he grew up listening to country music artists like George Strait and Randy Travis with his dad and R&B groups like Xscape and Boyz II Men with his mom.
Of his career aspirations, Jordan told Billboard, “I always hoped that it would be music, but I jumped into my skill set of administration, because I was insecure about chasing the dream. I knew I could do paperwork. I didn’t know if I could be a singer, but I thought it had to work out.”
Daniel Stallworth
DisneyDANIEL STALLWORTH, who turned 28 on April 21, is a teacher who hails from Pascagoula, Mississippi. Another soulful singer in the Top 7, he told Billboard he’s been watching “American Idol” since he was two, alongside his dad.
Daniel started his teaching career in 2021 in Mississippi, and has had to miss much of his first year at River Pines Elementary School in Humble, Texas, where he works with students from pre-K to fifth grade.
WHO GOT ELIMINATED FROM THE ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ TOP 7?
The results of viewer voting are announced by Seacrest after the final commercial break. As soon as we have the Top 5 of 2026, we will post the results here!
