American Idol has had a lot of mentors this season, and all of them had a prior tie to the show.
Former contestants came back to help mentor the young singers, with former winners like Ruben Studdard and David Cook and even those who never even made it to the live voting like Jimmie Allen and Bebe Rexha.
However, the latest announced mentor had nothing to do with Amerian Idol, although he is no stranger to reality singing competitions.
Will.i.am is coming to American Idol
Will.i.am, the Grammy Award-winning singer from Black Eyed Peas is coming to mentor the American Idol contestants for its Monday episode.
He has plenty of experience with singing competition shows as he was a judge on Alter Ego last season on FOX and has also worked on NBC’s Songland. He also served as a mentor on X-Factor and The Voice UK.
As for American Idol this weekend, the singer will mentor the top 7 as they prepare to sing songs dedicated to their moms, or the mother figure in their lives. They will also sing their takes on viral TikTok songs.
This comes one week after American Idol took a break from the competition to bring some past winners back to sing duets for the fans.
Returning to sing duets were Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, David Cook, Kris Allen, Jordin Parks, Ruben Studdard, Laci Kaye Booth, Laine Hardy, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Maddie Poppe, Willie Spence, and Grace Kinstler.
Laine Hardy appeared despite his recent arrest, as this was a pre-recorded episode.
Also showing up to celebrate were season one runner-up Justin Guarini, internet sensation William Hung, and David Archuleta, who couldn’t sing because of recent throat problems.
Who is left on American Idol this season?
The top 7 on American Idol includes the two remaining Platinum Ticket holders, Jay Copeland and HunterGirl. Joining HunterGirl as the only country singer left is feel-good story construction worker, Noah Thompson.
The biggest voice remaining in the competition belongs to Nicolina.
Inspirational story Christian Guardino is also still there, as is self-proclaimed weird girl Leah Marlene.
Finally, the current frontrunner Fritz Hager rounds out the top 7.
With Mother’s Day the theme for Sunday’s episode, if things continue as they have in the past, there will be two more singers going home on Sunday night with the top 5 moving on from there.
American Idol airs on Sunday and Monday nights at 8/7c on ABC.