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After endearing himself to the judges last season, a fan-favorite contestant is heading back to Hollywood for another shot at stardom — and that was just one of several surprises from Sunday’s American Idol.

The third night of auditions this season also included what Lionel Richie called “the attack of the 15- and 16-year-olds,” an onslaught of insanely talented teens: There was Austin Michael Robinson, 15, dubbed the “country Justin Bieber” by Katy Perry; Riley Thompson, 16, dubbed the “country Lana Del Ray” by that same judge; Mica Giaconi, 16, who did Bob Marley proud with a cool cover of “Is This Love”; and Darian Baena,...

Laine Hardy made a name for himself last season on American Idol and now he’s back to help his best friend’s sister get her shot at stardom too. Ashton Gill was the first up on the latest episode of the ABC singing competition and she managed to impress the judges with her version of Broken […]

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ABC's American Idol continued its auditions on Sunday night, with judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie handing out golden tickets to the dreaded Hollywood Week, where the competition will kick into high gear. Host Ryan Seacrest also announced tonight that Bobby Bones will be returning to the show as a mentor during Hollywood Week.

The first contestant to audition was Ashton Gill, who sang “Broken Halos” by Chris Stapleton. She came to the auditions with Laine Hardy, who had made it to Hollywood Week last season but got cut before the Top 24. Hardy played guitar for ...

ABC airs the the third of five “American Idol” episodes devoted to the audition stage of the competition on March 10. Another dozen would-be winners of season 17 will sing for the three judges — Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie — hoping to get one of those coveted tickets to Hollywood. In advance of Sunday’s show, be sure to check out our rundown of all 12 contestants who auditioned on night 3 of season 17.

Which of these will number among the 150 contestants who make it to this next stage? At the end of a week in Hollywood, only 40 moved on to the next round which saw them whisked off to Hawaii at the end of January where they auditioned for judges again, this time in front of guests staying at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Honolulu. (Spoilers: The men and women who made the Top 40.)

See ‘American Idol’ Season 17 schedule: When are the live shows and grand finale?...

In advance of Sunday’s episode of “American Idol,” ABC has given us a sneak peek at the dozen contestants we will see audition for judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. Among the 12 artists featured on the Night 3 episode are eight who ended up being given tickets to Hollywood and then competing there to make the Top 40. We’ve done some digging and can tell you which of these hopefuls made that first cut as well as the results of how they fared in the showcase round. Spoilers ahead.

At the end of January, the Top 40 travelled to Hawaii and stayed at the Aulani Resort, a luxury hotel in Honolulu owned by Disney as is ABC, the new network for “American Idol.” Each of these would-winners of season 17 sang once again. Only 20 of them were put through to the next round. This episode will air on March 31.

In turn,...