{"id":17771,"date":"2026-04-01T07:52:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=17771"},"modified":"2026-04-01T07:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:52:07","slug":"braden-rumfelt-impresses-with-powerful-hard-fought-hallelujah-performance-proving-he-deserves-a-spot-in-the-top-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=17771","title":{"rendered":"Braden Rumfelt Impresses With Powerful \u2018Hard Fought Hallelujah\u2019 Performance, Proving He Deserves a Spot in the Top 12"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/AZrheCyW7WrQehWa0aPeHp3piCk=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(756x350:758x352)\/luke-bryan-american-idol-022426-5468fef4ef9d4a9ba49458b5bb059786.jpg\" alt=\"Luke Bryan Declares This Contestant 'May Win' on 'American Idol'\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The first\u00a0\u201cAmerican Idol\u201d\u00a0live show of season 24 is here \u2014 and so is our LIVE coverage of what happens during each episode.\u00a0Ryan Seacrest\u00a0kicked off the show by revealing which of the\u00a0Top 20 singers\u00a0made it through to the Top 14, based on viewer votes cast during the last two weeks\u2019 shows.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/MCSk_MkKf34\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Braden Rumfelt Pours Soul into \u201cHard Fought Hallelujah\u201d American Idol 2026  - YouTube\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By the end of the night, only 12 contestants were supposed to remain, based on additional live voting during the two-hour episode. But in a shocking development, which you\u2019ll see below in our live recap, only the Top 14 were announced!<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-songs-of-faith-theme-on-american-idol-includes-special-guests\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Songs of Faith Theme on \u2018American Idol\u2019 Includes Special Guests<\/h2>\n<p>The show began its Songs of Faith theme with judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan singing the Commodores\u2019 \u201cJesus is Love,\u201d backed by the Top 20. Before the show kicked off, \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d announced that tonight\u2019s show will also include inspiring performances from beloved season 23 contestants Canaan, Kolbi Jordan, and Filo.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/HEtWKwOWIAAkXkX.jpg\" alt=\"American Idol (@AmericanIdol) \/ Posts \/ X\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Seacrest then introduced Richie and Bryan back to the stage, along with fellow judge Carrie Underwood back. He also said over 17 million votes have been cast over the last two weeks, and immediately revealed the Top 14.<\/p>\n<p>The first person who made it through is\u00a0<strong>Jordan<\/strong>. Next up, he said\u00a0<strong>Chris Tungseth<\/strong>\u00a0is in. Then, he announced\u00a0<strong>Rae<\/strong>\u00a0is also in the Top 14.\u00a0<strong>Daniel Stallworth<\/strong>\u00a0also made it through, as well as\u00a0<strong>Brooks Rosser.<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Philmon Lee<\/strong>\u00a0also advances to the Top 14, along with\u00a0<strong>Braden Rumfelt. Keyla Richardson<\/strong>, whom he dubbed as \u201cDrew\u2019s mama,\u201d got through, too.\u00a0<strong>Lucas Leon<\/strong>\u00a0is in, as is\u00a0<strong>Jake Thistle. Hannah Harper<\/strong>\u00a0got in, and so did Kyndal Inskeep. Making it into the final two spots are\u00a0<strong>Julian Kalel and Jesse Findling.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That means those going home are\u00a0<strong>Kutter Bradley, Ruby Rae, Madison Moon, Makiyah, Genevieve Heyward, and Abayomi.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-braden-rumfelt-suits-up-for-hard-fought-hallelujah\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Braden Rumfelt Suits Up for \u2018Hard Fought Hallelujah\u2019<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div id=\"9a6b06da274fd8f459e26611fe14ff7b\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div data-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWh5LrLlKpD\/?img_index=1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"lazy-embed lazy-embed--ssr embed-instagram-com lazy-embed--loaded\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWh5LrLlKpD\/?img_index=1\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-8\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWh5LrLlKpD\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=656&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fentertainmentnow.com&amp;rp=%2Famerican-idol%2F2026-top-12-live-results-recap%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A8%2C%22os%22%3A73934.5%7D\" height=\"1112\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-8\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-origwidth=\"\" data-origheight=\"1112\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Twenty-three-year-old Braden Rumfelt, looking dapper in a tan suit, was the second contestant of the night to take on a Brandon Lake tune, \u201cHard Fought Hallelujah.\u201d He started out a bit timid, but the song \u2014 and his voice \u2014 built throughout his performance.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wlos.com\/resources\/media2\/16x9\/1280\/986\/center\/90\/b51ea3a7-ecd0-4f24-b690-5fb1cce12917-WCUAmericanIdolConcertVOSOT.movframe5086.png\" alt=\"Murphy singer Braden Rumfelt advances to Top 20 on 'American Idol'\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Underwood said, \u201cYou are here because you have an incredible voice,\u201d and noted that the song built well and that he deserves to be there. Bryan said that Braden seemed \u201ca little nervous in the moment,\u201d and Richie also told him, \u201cDon\u2019t let it freak you out \u2014 you\u2019ve got the tools, all you need to do is step into the light.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/adD-fEvDUl8?si=GIk6uNH2r5b1TmY5\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"560\" data-origheight=\"315\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first\u00a0\u201cAmerican Idol\u201d\u00a0live show of season 24 is here \u2014 and so is our LIVE coverage of what happens during each episode.\u00a0Ryan Seacrest\u00a0kicked off the show by&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17773,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17771\/revisions\/17773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}