Ex-'American Idol' star charged in crash granted bond

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.

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.

 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.

American Idol is a superstar-making machine, and it’s proven profitable for many of its participants, too.

American Idol has provided us with some of music’s biggest stars over the years.

American Idol” contestant Caleb Kennedy was released from jail Friday on $50,000 bond as he awaits trial for allegedly striking and killing a man with his pickup truck while high on drugs.

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.

Nicolina Bozzo gave it her all once again on Sunday’s “American Idol”, but sadly it wasn’t enough to nab a spot in the Top 3.

SPOILER ALERT- Do not read ahead if you haven’t watched the latest episode of American Idol!!

 brought together some of the show's brightest lights and most celebrated stars for Monday's «Great Reunion» special, celebrating the show's 20-year history. ET was at the star-studded event, and spoke with some of the alums about their most memorable moments from their journeys.Justin Guarini — who finished as the runner-up behind Kelly Clarkson during the show's first season -- spoke with ET's Matt Cohen about returning to thestage, and how it felt.«Being back on the stage — that looks nothing like the stage that I was on by the way, they put a little budget into it this year and the years since I've been on it -- it's amazing to be back and see that the energy hasn't changed,» Guarini shared.«My favorite memory from my time on has to be my very first performance that I did live on television, because we didn't really know if [the show] was going to be anything,» he recalled.

A South Carolina judge has denied bond for former "American Idol" contestant, Caleb Kennedy, after he was accused of killing a man by barreling into him with his pickup truck after using a marijuana vaping device. The musician, 17, was arrested for a felony DUI that resulted in a death, according to online records in February. Per records, the singer was arrested on Feb.

crash.Kennedy’s attorney, Ryan Beasley, had asked the judge to set a $20,000 bond, citing Kennedy's remorse and cooperation with law enforcement, according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.Beasley told news outlets he was disappointed in the judge's decision.“A 17-year-old’s mental health is much better at home than in a jail," Beasley said.Beasley has said previously that his client had been placed on suicide watch at the jail.Kennedy advanced into the Top 5 of the television talent show last year, but dropped out of the singing competition after a video circulated of him sitting next to someone wearing what appeared to be a Ku Klux Klan hood. Kennedy apologized at the time for the video, saying “it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way.”Kennedy’s mother, Anita Guy, told news outlets the video was filmed when Kennedy was 12 and had been taken out of context.

As host Ryan Seacrest noted, William Hung went viral as an “American Idol” contestant long before viral videos were a thing, and so it was fitting Hung returned for the show’s 20th anniversary celebration Monday night.Hung performed the very song he auditioned with back in Season 3, way back in 2004 — “She Bangs” by Ricky Martin — looking much the same as he did almost two decades ago.Turns out, Hung is now a motivational speaker. So, Seacrest asked what he tells those who attend his talks.“I tell people I believe everyone has a right to try something new without being judged or ridiculed,” Hung said to cheers.

“American Idol” celebrated its 20th birthday in style Monday night.