American Idol crowned Chayce Beckham its Season 19 champion over Willie Spence during Sunday night's three-hour finale episode on ABC.
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"After the nationwide vote, the winner of American Idol 2021 is Chayce Beckham," American Idol host Ryan Seacrest announced at the conclusion of the broadcast.
"Chayce, you win American Idol! Which means Willie is our runner-up. Congratulations guys! Thank you Willie Spence!"
Grace Kinstler, a 20-year-old college student from Lakewood, IL, finished the competition in third place.
Ryan revealed Chayce, a 24-year-old heavy machinery operator from Apple Valley, CA, as the season's winner based on home-viewer voting that took place coast-to-coast as Season 19's Top 3 finalists performed during the live broadcast.
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The Top 3 finalists completed two rounds of performances during the first hour of the broadcast, after which the home voting to determine the season's Top 2 finalists ended.
Shortly afterward, Ryan announced Grace had been eliminated and Chayce and Willie, a 21-year-old caretaker from Douglas, GA, were Idol's Season 19 Top 2 finalists.
Chayce and Willie then later sang one more set of solo performances later in the Idol broadcast, and voting for competitions' winner closed after broadcast's last commercial break.
In addition to solo performances by the season's Top 3 finalists, American Idol's Season 19 finale also featured performances by Idol judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie; hit artists Lindsey Buckingham, Alessia Cara, Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, Fall Out Boy, Mickey Guyton, Chaka Khan, Leona Lewis and Macklemore; and the season's Top 9 finalists.