'American Idol' 2022 finale: Noah Thompson wins season 20

From a fun-filled childhood to living out her dreams, former American Idol hopeful Kenedi Anderson has already lived a full life — and she’s still just a teen.

School’s out! Former American Idol frontrunner Kenedi Anderson graduated from high school two months after she abruptly quit season 20 of the singing competition.

Carrie Underwood took to Instagram on Wednesday to celebrate the 17th anniversary of her legendary win. «Where does the time go,» the singer wrote on Instagram. «Please enjoy a page from the journal of a 22-year-old farm girl who just had the most incredible night!» The journal entry tells the story of the final moments before Ryan Seacrest announced her win on May 25, 2005. «It came down to this final moment. Ryan had the gold card in his hand,» young Underwood wrote.

Yep, you read that right! The beloved host of everyone’s not-so-guilty pleasure, American Idol, was urged to make a bold decision midway through the live season finale.

told Kelly Ripa about a behind-the-scenes wardrobe change on Monday’s episode of “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” saying that, during a commercial break on “Idol,” his stylist Miles bluntly announced: “We need to change your underwear.”“Apparently, America voted, and decided there was anatomy in the shot,” Seacrest quipped. “And I said, ‘Well, Miles, I didn’t bring any extra underwear,’” Seacrest replied. But Miles was apparently prepared for a switcheroo.

Time for a quick change. Ryan Seacrest had to change his underwear during the American Idol finale when his stylist noticed that his outfit left little to the imagination for the viewers at home.

Michele Amabile Angermiller “American Idol” crowned a new winner last night (May 22). Twenty-year old Louisa, Kentucky native Noah Thompson sealed the deal with a sultry performance of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” and his original song, “One Day Tonight.” He beat out fellow country artist, HunterGirl.After Thompson’s rendition of “I’m on Fire” — from Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” album — judge Katy Perry foreshadowed his victory. “So many people have fallen in love during that song, used it as their first-dance song,” she said.

Sunday night belonged only to American Idol as the singing competition dominated primetime ratings and viewership.

The newest victor! Noah Thompson was crowned the season 20 winner of American Idol after a showdown with Leah Marlene and HunterGirl.

Canadian singer Nicolina Bozzo was joined by Sara Bareilles to perform a stunning duet during Sunday’s “American Idol” finale.

*Caution: Spoilers ahead!*

 has crowned a new winner!Sunday's Season 20 finale — which was Bruce Springsteen-themed — all came down to the season's top three -- Leah Marlene, HunterGirl and Noah Thompson.The first round of the night kicked off with Leah singing a rendition of «Cover Me,» followed by HunterGirl's performance of “Dancing in the Dark." Finally, Noah closed out the first round with a gravelly cover of «I’m on Fire» that was a hit with the judges.The second round of the night featured all the finalists performing their own debut original singles. Circling back around, Leah kicked things off with her tune, «Flowers,» which brought judge Katy Perry to tears.Noah follows that up with a performance of his single, «One Day Tonight,» and HunterGirl closed out the second round with a performance of her song «Red Bird.»After some performances with the judges from Leah and HunterGirl — and an encore performances of Rihanna's «Stay» by Noah, who previously performed the song during the season's showstopper round — it was time to vote.After all the votes were cast, the new champion is...ET's Denny Directo spoke with Noah after the show, and the new winner was still in shock, joking, «I don't know what to do right now.»The 19-year-old singer — who is himself the father of a young son, Walker — told ET that the best part of all of this was doing something he could show his kid when he got older.«That, for me, that's the biggest thing out of all this. Because, you know, I wanted to do this for him,» Noah shared.

SPOILER ALERT – Do not read ahead if you haven’t watched the season finale of American Idol!!

SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals the winner of Season 20 of American Idol.

Michele Amabile Angermiller American Idol’s top-three contestants — Tennessee’s HunterGirl (Hunter Wolkonowski), Kentucky’s Noah Thompson and Leah Marlene of Illinois — will journey to “Idol” glory including a rest stop on the New Jersey turnpike. The top three will take on the music of Bruce Springsteen for the three-hour finale on Sunday at 8 p.m.

Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie as well as host Ryan Seacrest are all expected to be back on American Idol next season.

Thania Garcia This weekend’s season finale of “American Idol” is cooking up to be a star-studded event with performances by season four winner and current mentor on the program, Carrie Underwood, as well as Michael Bublé, Thomas Rhett and Sara Bareilles, among many others.The three-hour special will also welcome judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan to the stage with additional performances by Ben Platt; Earth, Wind & Fire; Deana Carter; Flo Rida; Melissa Etheridge; Tai Verdes; “Idol” alum Gabby Barrett and James Arthur.This season’s three finalists — Noah Thompson, HunterGirl and Leah Marlene — will perform for one last time in hopes of bringing home the winning title, with one round dedicated to the music of Bruce Springsteen. Sunday night’s (May 15) episode of “American Idol” included performances from Fritz Hager and Thompson — both of whom had tested positive for COVID-19 in the weeks prior.Although Thompson made it through, Hager and Nicola Bozzo were eliminated during the semi-finals.Marlene expressed the most shock with the results of the finalist lineup following her performances of Journey’s “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” and Underwood’s “I’ll Stand By You.” She fell to the floor as her name was revealed by host Ryan Seacrest.Sunday night’s episode also featured a performance from Finneas who sang his funky pop single “Naked.”Season 20 of “American Idol” will wrap on Sunday, May 22 starting at 8 p.m.

It’s the final countdown! American Idol is getting ready to crown their season 20 winner — and it took an appearance from former contestant Carrie Underwood to help with the final elimination.