‘American Idol’: Who Made the Top 12 & Which 2 Artists Were Eliminated?

The competition continued on the Sunday, April 27, episode of American Idol. With just 14 contestants remaining, the artists took the stage for live performances of songs from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legends.

Things are now fully in America’s hands, which left viewers with the opportunity to vote for their favorites to earn a spot in the top 12. Judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie still offered their feedback to the contestants, though, and all of the singers got advice from mentor James Taylor.

Scroll down for a for a full recap of all the performances and what the judges had to say about each singer. Plus, find out which 12 artists moved on after viewer votes.

Filo

Up first was Filo, who sang “With a Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles. The platinum ticket winner had the audience in the palm of his hand as he performed.

“That is a smackdown way to start the show. Killer, killer,” Richie gushed. Underwood and Bryan agreed, with Bryan telling Filo his song choice was “perfect” and adding, “I can’t say anything bad about that. That was amazing.”

Mattie Pruitt

Next up was Mattie Pruitt, who got some advice from Taylor about how to connect to her song choice of “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin. Despite being the youngest in the competition, she completely delivered.

Underwood told Mattie, “That was a great song choice for your voice and obviously for the night. You sang that wonderfully, I love your look for this, I love you getting into character. If there’s anything I can say to you it’s you gotta find your sass, sister! You’re so sweet and smiley and you look so gorgeous, but you need some sass girl!”

The other judges agreed that Mattie needs more “stage presence,” but couldn’t reiterate enough that her vocals were impressive. “That was one of my favorite vocal performances I’ve heard you do,” Bryan said. “Take that vocal and build on the sass.”

John Foster

Country hopeful John Foster took on Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock,” but made sure to make it his own rather than being an Elvis impersonator. As he explained it, it was his “go big or go home” moment, giving him a chance to move more than he ever has before on the Idol stage.

The judges were on their feet applauding John afterwards. “I’m very proud of you on that one,” Bryan told John. “It was exactly what you wanted. It wasn’t Elvis impersonator, it was just John Foster doing Elvis. It was very comfortable watching you. You doing that low moment was really well done. Great performance.”

Richie added, “You were so comfortable. That’s what made it so believable for us. You did a great job.”

Desmond Roberts

Desmond Roberts earned his spot in the top 14 thanks to the judges’ save, so he had a lot to prove this week. He performed one of Richie’s own songs “Jesus Is Love.” Plus, it was one of the first songs Desmond’s dad taught him, so it had significant meaning to him.

Richie was super impressed. “Let me just say this, I don’t mind you singing the song, but you found some octaves I didn’t sing,” he admitted. “It’s obvious that you were not only comfortable, but you tried to take my song! That is a very hard song to sing and you did so well. That was really risky, but you did it. I’m telling you. It’s great.”

Jamal Roberts

Up next was Jamal Roberts, whose daughters were in the audience for the first time this season. He sang The Isley Brothers’ “Shout” for his top 14 performance.

“When you first started singing, I felt like you were being a little bit timid, and as the song progressed, I understood,” Underwood noted. “You had to have somewhere to go. That was great. Obviously everybody i this room loved it. I feel like with anybody else that could’ve come off as a some wedding karaoke thing, not with you, sir. That was amazing.”

Bryan pointed out that it was “smart” for Jamal to choose that song and said that he “knocks it out of the park every week.”

Amanda Barise

For her top 14 performance, Amanda Barise sang Michael Jackson’s “I Can’t Help It,” and wanted to prove to American that she was worthy of the judges’ save last week.

“Look at you! Great job. Pro moves, pro singing, stage presence went to another level. Crushed it,” Bryan gushed, which the other judges dittoed. Richie said, “That was amazing. You did a great job. I loved that.”

Canaan James Hill

Taylor urged Canaan James Hill to make more eye contact with the audience while performing “Mary Don’t You Weep” by Aretha Franklin.

Canaan earned a standing ovation from the judges. “Aretha didn’t sing like that, either!” Richie pointed out. “That was unbelievable.” Underwood agreed, adding, “Vocals, spot on, we would expect nothing else from you.” However, she urged him to “rock out” and do something “really unexpected” in the future.

Josh King

Josh King sang Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time,” but he took a big risk by going into his head voice during the performance. Josh was one of the four artists saved by the judges last week, so he knew he had a lot to prove to the viewers.

“You really know who you are and it’s a hard thing. You appear to at least. I feel like that was great song choice for you. You had fun with it. It was really nice,” Underwood told Josh. Bryan called him “charming” and “endearing” and said it was a “great job.” However, Richie urged Josh, “Push yourself. Go for the wall. You got the talent in spades. You can do it.”

Thunderstorm Artis

Thunderstorm Artis took on a James Taylor classic, “Fire and Rain,” and did a unique version that the singer himself had ever heard.

“Well done. It had hints of James Taylor but it had a lot of you and your signature stuff in that,” Bryan said. “I’m so jealous of you that you got to sit there with him and play that song with him. Way to be you.” Richie also praised Thunderstorm for turning it into his own song and gushed that it was a “masterful job.”

Gabby Samone

Gabby Samone went big by taking on Whitney Houston for her top 14 performance. She sang “Saving All My Love for You.”

Richie kept it simple, saying, “All I’m going to say is America, vote. America, vote. That was phenomenal.” Underwood agreed that it was “incredible,” and Bryan said it was “top to bottom one of the best things” he’s ever seen on the show.

Breanna Nix

Breanna Nix paid tribute to Journey with her performance of “Open Arms.”

The judges picked up on Breanna’s nerves. Although she made sure to assure her that she sounded great, Underwood noted, “I know sometimes you get a little tempted to try and make things fancy and you’re editing things down and stuff like that, just don’t make it too complicated to where you’re missing notes or anything. I think some might’ve gotten away from you at the end a little bit.”

Bryan added, “That’s the first time I’ve kind of seen you nervous. Maybe that song’s a little outside your comfort zone. Do whatever you can do not to let nerves affect [you], but your voice was beautiful.”

Kolbi Jordan

Kolbi Jordan went next with a performance of “You’re All I Need to Get By.” Taylor told her he could listen to her singing all day long, so the vibes going into the show were good.

“Your whole aura, your whole presence, everything was like, ‘I’m here. I’ve arrived.’ Your confidence, your personality was showing through, your dress … it’s sensory overload!” Bryan raved. Richie called the performance “amazing” before urging viewers to vote.

Ché

Ché earned his top 14 spot thanks to a save from the judges, so he really wanted to step it up with his performance of “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” Since it’s already sung on the show before, he knew he had to make his rendition stand out.

“You know what’s happening right now? Everybody is listening to everybody else and everybody is going to the next level of their talent. You are out of your mind right now going to the next level,” Richie said. Underwood admitted that she wanted Che to “rock out” more, but still made sure to note that it was “incredible.”

Slater Nalley

Closing out the night was Slater Nalley, who sang “Your Song” by Elton John. After a bonding moment with Taylor, he got himself ready for the simple, but effective, performance.

“That was a really great song choice, for sure. I love seeing you get emotional with James Taylor,” Underwood told the teenager. Bryan added, “The fact that you’re 18 and you’re this cool really makes me mad. That vibe of that song really put you in the right light. Your ability to really, kind of, have that maturity while you’re delivering those words is something that few people can do at your age.”

Who was eliminated?

Two artists had to go home at the end of the episode. After the viewer votes were cast, Ryan Seacrest revealed which two artists had the lowest amount of votes and were, therefore, eliminated: Amanda Barise and Desmond Roberts.

Who made the top 12?

That meant that the rest of the artists moved on to the next stage of the competition. The top 12 will take the stage during the Monday, April 28, episode for more live performances.

The top 12 are: Canaan James Hill, Gabby Samone, Mattie Pruitt, Thunderstorm Artis, Slater Nalley, Breanna Nix, John Foster, Filo, Kolbi Jordan, Josh King, Jamal Roberts, and Ché.

American Idol, Season 23, Sundays and Mondays, 8/7c, ABC