Given the choice of Missouri resident and stay-at-home mom Hannah Harper; worship director Jordan McCullough, from Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and gospel singer Keyla Richardson, from Pensacola, Fla., voters named Harper this season’s champion.<\/p>\n
Richardson was cut about an hour into the show, after early vote totals were revealed. But all three of the finalists gave stellar performances.<\/p>\n
![\"Lionel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c11d5fe726ba4b31b79978bb15eafb7e.jpeg\"\/)
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Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, Ryan Seacrest, and Luke Bryan on ‘American Idol’
Credit: Disney\/Eric McCandless<\/p>\n
Judges Carrie Underwood<\/a>, Lionel Richie<\/a>, and Luke Bryan<\/a> were impressed, having said multiple times they believed this crop of singers were the best of any season.<\/p>\n “I am so proud of America voting you three in the finale, but you guy have to keep voting out there,” Underwood said early on. “Can we just have a three-way tie? Is that possible?”<\/p>\n She also singled out Harper for praise after the contestant performed an original song, which she famously did in the auditions, when she sang “String Cheese.” She sang it again late in the finale.<\/p>\n “I love how your voice just makes everything sound just beautiful and tender and like a lullabye,” Underwood told her at one point. “I had the biggest smile on my face the entire time.”<\/p>\n Richie lauded McCullough after he gave a tearful performance of “Dear God” by Smokie Norful.<\/p>\n “I take so much pride in saying, you are a teacher, you are a preacher, and you’re a hell of a singer,” Richie said. “Let the congregation say amen!”<\/p>\n The finale, overall, was star-studded as always, with the judges taking the stage themselves. They all sang together, too, performing Richie’s 1986 song “Deep River Woman.”<\/p>\n Bryan also sang his new song “Fish Hunt Golf Drink” and joined former Idol finalist Julian Kalel, who was eliminated April 6, for a rendition of Dwight Yoakam’s “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere.”<\/p>\n Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Underwood teamed up with rockers M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce for a medley that included “Home Sweet Home.”<\/p>\n Grammy winner Alicia Keys<\/a>, who’s previously served as a judge and mentor for the competition, took the mic, as did show alums Clay Aiken<\/a>, Tori Kelly<\/a>, and Cameron Whitcomb. Their fellow artists Brad Paisley<\/a>, Blues Traveler, Gin Blossoms, En Vogue, Jason Mraz<\/a>, Lee Ann Womack<\/a>, Nelly<\/a>, and Shinedown delivered their own songs, often with finalists who made the show’s top 10 this season.<\/p>\n And the show even included ads for next season’s auditions.<\/p>\n