Caleb Kennedy was eliminated from American Idol in the Top 10
American Idol contestant Caleb Kennedy was eliminated from the competition on April 11th, 2019. The news came as a shock to many fans, who had been following his journey since he first auditioned for the show in 2017. Caleb’s journey on American Idol was one of ups and downs, with his performances getting better each week but never quite enough to win over the judges. Despite this, Caleb has continued to be a fan favorite and is now more popular than ever.
The 19-year-old musician’s journey began in 2017 when he auditioned for American Idol. His audition performance of John Mayer’s “Your Body Is A Wonderland” blew everyone away, earning him four yeses from the judges.
Caleb advanced through to Hollywood Week where he performed an original song called “I Will Wait For You.” It was this performance that solidified his place in the Top 24. During this stage of the competition, Caleb received positive feedback from all three judges, including Simon Cowell who said that he was one of his favorites.
In March 2019, American Idol aired its Top 10 episode and it came as no surprise that Caleb made it through to the next round. He performed John Mayer’s “Stop This Train” and earned praise from Katy Perry who said she had goosebumps during his performance.
Unfortunately for Caleb, things went downhill after this point. He chose to sing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” during Top 8 week and it wasn’t well received by viewers or judges alike. Although he didn’t receive any harsh criticism from Simon Cowell or Katy Perry during their critiques of his performance (and they were actually quite positive), Lionel Richie told him that he would have been better off singing something else.
“Why did Lionel Richie tell him not to sing Hallelujah?”
“It is such a sad song,” Lionel told him.
Caleb responded by saying that people connect with it because it makes them feel like they’re not alone when they’re going through difficult times.
