‘American Idol’ Recap: Who Made the Top 7 After Disney Night?

Disney Night is always one of the most anticipated events of the year on American Idol. For Season 24, the Top 9 got to partake in the beloved theme night, during which they were mentored by past Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson, who also served as a guest judge.

The nine remaining artists hit the stage with performances of Disney songs, with viewers once again casting their votes for their favorites throughout the episode. Judge Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan were able to weigh in with their praise and critiques, but ultimately had no say in who was eliminated.

At the end of the episode, the Top 7 was revealed, which means two contestants were sent home. Scroll down for a recap of the performances and to find out who was eliminated!

Daniel Stallworth

Daniel Stallworth got the night started with an Aladdin classic, “A Whole New World.” Hudson urged him to bring his “gospel roots” out in the performance.

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“The advice that Jennifer gave you, you took to heart,” Richie assured Daniel. “Your sermon was amazing, and more importantly, it was so natural. You were just giving God’s gift to us and it was so powerful the way you delivered.”

Underwood added, “I knew you would crush it and I was right. it felt like it was made for you and your voice. It just seemed to easy. Beautiful,” and Hudson told Daniel that he “ministered and owned it.”

Finally, Bryan jumped in to say, “I love your charisma, your style, the way you navigate. Everything you do is so well done. Since day one we’ve seen it. You’ve got it all hooked up and put together. You started at one level in that song and really started showing out at the end.”

Braden Rumfelt

For his Disney Night performance, Braden Rumfelt sang the Oscar-winning song “Remember Me” from Coco. He got a little nervous in rehearsal and struggled with the lyrics a bit, but was given a vote of confidence from his mentor.

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“You have such a great ‘getting into character’ kind of presence when you sing,” Underwood began. “It’s really refreshing to watch. It’s not like you’re just out here singing a song and dazzling us with your voice, you’re getting into the character and telling a story, and it’s pretty captivating to watch.”

Hudson told Braden she was “so proud” of him and labeled him “a star” in multiple ways. Bryan said, “That was a very challenging, tricky song. We’ve seen you come out and sing big moments, but that thing was tender, a lot of movements, a lot of chords. In this high pressure scenario, you did a great job creating the mood and showing us things you could do. I saw a lot of your future in that performance.”

To conclude the commentary, Richie praised Braden for “navigating” the performance and agreed with Bryan that it was a “tricky” song to sing.

Lucas Leon

Next up was Lucas Leon with a performance of “Life Is a Highway,” which was featured in the movie Cars. Hudson urged him to “own the stage” when he got to the live show, and he did just that when he rocked out with his guitar.

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“You took every note. You owned the stage. I felt like I was at your concert,” Hudson applauded. “You are well on your way, young man. Continue to just trust your instinct because you have an instinct that you couldn’t even pay for.”

Bryan congratulated Lucas for being so “comfortable” at such a young age. “You’re so watchable to just watch,” he admitted. Richie told Lucas he wants him to give even “more attitude” moving forward.

“That was joyful. You were up there, you were having fun, you weren’t in your head about it, and it was just entertaining,” Underwood concluded. “It was fun to watch. It was fun, it was good!”

Hannah Harper

Season 24 frontrunner Hannah Harper was next up. She chose to sing “Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog for Disney Night. It was a “redemption moment” after she got criticized online for being good at singing, but “[sucking] at performing” and commanding the stage. Hudson helped her choreograph the number to get some confidence.

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“I loved it!” Bryan assured Hannah. “It made my heart smile. It made me smile watching you grow into … you started with this Reba McEntire with attitude kind of thing, then you grew into your character. You did it perfectly like your personality that we know. It’s one of my favorite performances you’ve ever done.”

Richie completely agreed with Bryan, but also gave Hannah “a little hint” for the future: “Whatever you’re gonna wear on stage, whatever shoes you’re going to wear on stage, make sure you wear them in rehearsal so your shoes don’t scare you to death when you start performing!”

Underwood reiterated what she’s said to Hannah before. “This is another way you remind me of myself,” she smiled. “I got dragged when I was on this show for not moving enough. I had never done anything like this before. Now, I can’t not move. I sing with my entire body. I feel like you are on your way. Just keep taking those steps.”

Chris Tungseth

The next contestant to perform was Chris Tungseth. For Disney Night, he chose to sing “Let It Go” from Frozen, and he got a lot of advice from Hudson about how to work the stage.

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Richie told Chris that he did “fantastic” and noted that he had more “stage presence” this week. Underwood added, “I feel like that is the most we’ve seen you emote. It seemed like you were having fun. It kind of seemed like you were letting go a little bit and I would like to see more of that.”

Hudson compared Chris to a “teddy bear” and said he was a “joy to watch.” However, she made sure to note that he should be careful not to “lose the song” when he’s so focused on the performance aspect.

Finally, Bryan said, “Great job in playing along in the moment and learning what you can do. That’s what this is all about, too.”

Keyla Richardson

When Hudson was a contestant on American Idol, she sang “Circle of Life” from The Lion King, which meant she was really able to give Keyla Richardson some instruction when she performed the very same song more than 20 years later.

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Hudson was so into the performance that she pulled her signature move and threw a shoe at Keyla. The audience would not stop cheering, which prompted Underwood to say, simply, “What they said!”

Bryan said it was a “great performance,” and Richie had only a simple praise: “Let the congregation say, ‘Amen!'”

Brooks Rosser

Brooks Rosser made a major song choice by performing “The Climb” From Hannah Montana: The Movie. With no past performance experience, Brooks was admittedly still working on his confidence, which went perfect with the song’s lyrics.

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Although Brooks sang the wrong lyrics at one point, he kept going and finished the performance strong. “You have such a special sound that does not come around every day,” Hudson raved. “And you’re brave. You’re brave to be here. You’re in the right place. You deserve to be here.”

Bryan told Brooks to “keep digging” and “keep figuring this out as you go,” while also noting that the song “got away from” him a few times. Richie said the “magic” is in Brooks’ voice. “Keep doing that and you’re going places,” he confirmed.

Underwood admitted she was “so proud” of Brooks and that she’s “excited to see where you go.” Brooks was then surprised with an appearance from last week’s eliminated contestant, Rae, who confirmed that the two are dating!

Jordan McCullough

The penultimate performance was of “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas, sung by Jordan McCullough.

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The audience went wild over the performance and the judges could barely get a word in edgewise. Once she was able to speak, Underwood called the performance “perfect.” Meanwhile, Hudson threw both of her shoes and noted that she had nothing else to say.

Kyndal Inskeep

The final performance of the night was from Kyndal Inskeep, whose confidence was shot a bit after she lost her voice last week. She sang Miley Cyrus’ “Butterfly Fly Away,” which she could relate to at this point in the competition.

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“That was the way to step into your light. Remember one thing: You were born enough. That was fabulous,” Richie gushed. Underwood admitted that it was “necessary” for Kyndal to have a moment like last week so she could have a “beautiful moment of redemption” like this.

Hudson said the performance was “absolutely beautiful” and also threw her shoe to show her support.

Who made the Top 7?

After all the performances, the results were revealed. The seven artists confirmed to be moving on to the Top 7, in no particular order, are: Daniel Stallworth, Keyla Richardson, Jordan McCullough, Chris Tungseth, Hannah Harper, Brooks Rosser, and Braden Rumfelt.

Who was eliminated?

Unfortunately, that meant that two contestants were eliminated. The singers who went home on Disney night are: Kyndal Inskeep and Lucas Leon. Despite having the most social media followers of anyone else in the competition, Kyndal was surprisingly one of the eliminated artists.

American Idol, Season 24, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC