Just before the finalists on the current season of American Idol were sent home to await a decision about how the series would proceed during the coronavirus pandemic, they sat down with Billboard for the first in-depth interviews of their Idol run.
One by one, over a two-day period, they filed into dressing room 36a at CBS Television City in Los Angeles to be grilled about their lives, their hopes and dreams and their Idol journeys to date.
Although each contestant was interviewed privately, they named many of the same series alums as their favorite Idols. Alejandro Aranda and Kelly Clarkson received the most mentions – 10 of the 21 finalists named the season 1 and 18 Idols as their favorites.