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Jelly Roll Details ‘Chaotic’ Night & New ‘Plot Twist’ Before ‘American Idol’ Top 24 Reveal
As Hollywood Week continues on season 23 of “American Idol,” country superstar Jelly Roll will appear in his first full episode as the show’s new artist-in-residence on April 7, 2025.
Though he served as a guest mentor in Hawaii during season 22, Jelly Roll told Billboard on April 4 that while diving into the mix with the 40 remaining contestants during Hollywood Week, he witnessed another level of emotions, lots of disarray and a “plot twist” viewers won’t see coming.
Jelly Roll Says He ‘Can’t Wait for the World to See This’ Before Head-to-Head Round on ‘American Idol’
Following the Showstoppers round that aired on April 6, judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan ended the episode by throwing the contestants a giant curveball. Of the 62 remaining competitors, only four singers advanced to the Top 24, 18 were sent home, and 40 were left to battle it out in a new round of competition: the “Head to Head” duets.
Tasked with picking a partner and preparing a duet to perform 24 hours later, the singers scrambled overnight, with Jelly Roll available to give advice and feedback.
“Hollywood Week is even more chaotic than what you see on TV,” he told Billboard. “The episodes are pretty chaotic, but the camera can’t catch all of the chaos.”
“I can’t wait for the world to see this,” he continued. “The show brings me in when the kids are picking their head-to-head songs, so I am in the trenches with these babies. I watch them pick their songs. I give them advice and I catch them picking their partners. Some of them probably picked the wrong partner.”
Jelly Roll said the new round was perfect preparation for contestants who are truly serious about making it as musicians, telling Billboard, “I love it because it reminds me of the music business. It’s real. They’re not hazing these kids. This is stuff that happens in our business all the time.”
Jelly Roll Teases Another ‘Plot Twist’ as Competition Heats Up
On April 7, supervising producer Patrick Lynn posted an Instagram video of the scene backstage, which he also called “chaotic,” as contestants tried to choose partners and songs late into the night. Jelly Roll told Billboard that during that time, he did his best to advise the remaining contestants as they prepared for the Head-to-Head round, but not everyone took his words to heart.
The “Hard Fought Hallelujah” singer explained, “There was one group of singers who didn’t know how to communicate with each other, and I said, ‘This is the biggest decision you’re going to make because this is the last time the judges decide who goes forward. I’m going to give y’all my advice right now. Take it or leave it and I won’t be offended, but I think at this point your best bet is to pick a song that you feel safe doing together, not where one has to carry the other.’”
One duo, Jelly Roll said, “picked a song that the girl knew really well, and the guy didn’t know, and they thought it was the best for them. I said, ‘At this point, if y’all aren’t going to change the song, then there’s going to be a point where you’re going to have to carry this song,’ and that’s exactly how it shook out. She ended up having to carry the song and then, as happens in ‘American Idol,’ there’s a plot twist, but I can’t give that away.”
Despite all the drama, Jelly Roll told “Entertainment Tonight” in early March that he’s having such a blast, he hopes his role continues into future seasons.
“What I want to do is get a permanent artist-in-residency there,” he told ET. “Okay? That’s my dream right now — is that it never could be anybody but me and ‘American Idol’ signs a lifelong contract for Jelly Roll to be the mentor artist-in-residence.”
