Watch: Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell Joins Son Baylee During American Idol Audition
There are singers, then there are idols…and then there are questions about what it’s like to be a singer on American Idol.
For more than two decades, the ABC competition series has helped launch artists into stardom, including Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia Barrino, Katharine McPhee, Jordin Sparks, the most recent champion Abi Carter and more.
And there’s something about the show that continues to hit a high note with viewers.
“It is a trusted brand,” executive producer Megan Michaels Wolflick told GoldDerby in June. “I do feel like it is, in my mind, the NFL of singing shows as far as you come to us because you trust in the process. It’s a show about the finalists. It’s not a show about celebrities. It’s a show about the Cinderella story.”
Now in its 23rd season, more contestants are hoping to live out their fairy tale. After getting their golden—or in some rare occasions platinum—tickets from judges Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and Carrie, the competitors are continuing on with Hollywood Week.
“Now we’re off to the #americanidol arena,” host Ryan Seacrest wrote on Instagram March 31, “where things get real.”
But have you ever wondered what it’s really like to be on American Idol? Like, what is the audition process like, do contestants get paid, do competitors under 18 have to go to school while they’re on the show and what happens when a singer gets eliminated from the series?
To get answers to these questions and more from musicians who’ve been on the show, keep reading.
Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty Images
“You don’t get paid until you make it to the live rounds,” Margie Mays, who competed on seasons 17 and 18 of American Idol, shared in a 2020 TikTok, “and then you can be paid.”
The singer noted she did get paid to appear in American Idol commercials and to return for a finale performance after she was eliminated.
“When they take you to places like Hawaii, obviously, they pay for that and then there’s things like a per diem for, like, eating while you’re in Hawaii,” she added. “But they’re not paying you to be a contestant. That’s the sacrifice you make to try to win.”
But if you do win, there is a big prize.
“You do get $250,000, but not really because of taxes,” season 16 champion Maddie Poppe told Business Insider in 2022. “And you get half of it before you complete your record, and then the second half you get after you complete the record. So it’s just like an advance from the record deal, but I’m pretty sure I have to recoup it.”
M Becker/American Idol 2008/Getty Images for Fox
Nope.
In fact, season seven winner David Cook told Business Insider his audition in front of then-judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson was his fifth round.
There are a number of ways to audition for producers, including through open calls, live virtual auditions and social media. However, American Idol‘s guidelines state that singers who get a callback during the audition process must arrange their own travel.
“Once you get to Hollywood Week, they put you up [and] cover flights and all that,” David continued, “but yeah, for the city auditions segment, you’re on your own pocket.”
You’re going to Hollywood…now what?
After contestants get their golden ticket from the judges—who currently include Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan—they have to travel out to California for the nail-biting Hollywood Week. But does the show cover these travel expenses?
“Yes, they will fly you to Hollywood Week if you have to take a flight,” Margie continued in a 2020 TikTok. “They pay for that, they book for that. Awesome. They’ll get you from the airport to the hotel. Hotel is paid for. Meals are provided.”
As she clarified, “They’re not paying you money, but they are paying for your expenses.”
When it comes to picking out their outfits, contestants are a solo act in the early rounds of the competition.
“You are responsible for dressing yourself,” Margie said in a 2020 TikTok, later adding, “However, if you make it to the live rounds, which is usually Top 14 and above, they do dress you. There will be stylists, hair, makeup, the whole shebang ’cause they really want you to go from looking like [an] everyday person to a star and to really transform from the beginning of the show to the end.”
Stylists have to work with a budget, though. And back in 2013, former costume designer Soyon An told The Hollywood Reporter contestants were allotted $400 an episode for their wardrobe.
“They’re creating an image, their brand,” she added. “So if the costume goes over $400, the contestants have to decide whether or not to buy it themselves if they really want to wear it.”
After host Ryan Seacrest reveals the results and singers are eliminated from the competition, it’s time for them to pack their bags.
“For Hollywood Week, you generally get sent home as soon as they can book you on a flight,” Margie said in a 2021 TikTok video. “So, you will literally leave the theater and go to a separate hotel and then they put you on a flight and leave right away.”
As for later in the competition?
“For Hawaii, you don’t leave the same day,” she added. “Everybody flies back to L.A. on the same plane, whether they made it to the Top 20 or didn’t. And then when you live in the apartments and you’re doing live shows, if you get cut between like 20 and 10, I think you probably leave quickly after. But if you’re in the Top 10 and you get cut, you very likely will stay in the apartments until the finale because they’re gonna bring you back for the finale and you’re gonna perform in the finale.”
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images
You must be at least 15 years old to compete on American Idol, so some of the singers are still keeping up with their studies.
“We had to have school on set and all that stuff,” Danielle Finn, who was 17 years old when she made the Top 24 on season 20, explained to season 14 runner-up Clark Beckham in 2022. “And we couldn’t film more than 10 hours a day. So if we ever went over, we would be kept to the side. Or, if we ever had free time? ‘Oh, you gotta go to school.'”
Victoria Johnson, who was 16 when she made it to the Showstopper round on season 22, had a similar experience.
Though she was on spring break during Hollywood Week, bececause she was a minor, “they had me do the required school hours,” she told University Press in 2024. “I just did puzzles the whole time because I didn’t have any schoolwork to do….I am taking all my classes online this semester because of Idol, because I was going back and forth with filming.”
M Becker/American Idol 2009/Getty Images for Fox
Over the years, American Idol contestants have lived in apartments, hotels and even mansions. The huge house on season eight, for instance, had a basketball court, bowling alley, cinema room as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
“The mansion was sooo awesome,” contestant Lil Rounds wrote in a February 2024 Instagram post while looking back at her season 15 years prior, “but we hardly had any sleep.”
These days, contestants appear to stay in hotels. In fact, season 22 winner Abi Carter and top seven finalist Julia Gagnon were roommates.
Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty Images
They stay quite busy.
Season two winner Ruben Studdard remembered how packed his schedule was with song selection, preparation, vocal coaching, and filming for show packages and commercials.
“Thursday we got the songs,” he recalled on a 2023 interview with West Byrd. “Friday we chose the songs. Friday-Saturday we taped commercials. Sunday we made final selections. Then Sunday night-Monday night we went to the studio to make sure everything was right for the track. And then Tuesday morning we would do a dry run of the show, like top to bottom. So when you see the package when people are like, ‘You should vote for X, Y, Z’ that’s already been taped Tuesday morning.”
Then, of course, there’s the actual show. “Wednesday is the elimination, and then it starts all over,” Ruben added. “And it gets even tougher when the group gets smaller because the work is the same.”
Jena Irene Asciutto has shared a similar sentiment.
“As the weeks went on and people were eliminated, the people left were responsible for filling that episode of time,” the season 13 runner-up told Business Insider. “So we were needed for more things. And I think at like top eight was when we started doing Ford commercials every Sunday.”
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