‘American Idol’ suspends production, sends contestants home

(LOS ANGELES) — “You’re going to Hollywood” is usually what American Idol contestants hope to hear but, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they instead are being told, “You’re going home.”

The popular ABC singing competition with judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan, has suspended production due to the rapidly evolving viral outbreak in order to ensure that contestants get home to their families. Production for the show will work remotely and has been since last week.

American Idol will continue to air as scheduled in the weeks ahead leading into the live shows, which are slated to begin in April, for now.  Showrunners will reexamine things on a weekly basis to see if that timetable is still feasible.

Idol joins a mounting list of shows that have halted production as a result of the novel coronavirus including The Bachelorette, Grey’s Anatomy, CW’s Riverdale and Apple TV’s The Morning Show.

American Idol currently airs Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.