Luke Bryan will miss American Idol's first live Season 19 episode after testing positive for coronavirus, however longtime Idol viewers will still see a familiar face as original judge Paul Abdul will fill in for him.
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"I'm sad to say I won't be a part of tonight's first live @AmericanIdol show," the 44-year-old country singer tweeted on Monday, hours before the show.
"I tested positive for COVID but I'm doing well and look forward to being back at it soon."
ABC announced on its official Instagram account that Paula will be taking Luke's place for this broadcast.
"Luke will be missed at our first #AmericanIdol LIVE show tonight, but he is resting now in quarantine at home and we're wishing him a speedy recovery," the show wrote in a statement.
"We're so excited to announce @paulaabdul will be stepping in as a guest judge to join Lionel Richie and Katy Perry as we get closer to crowning a new winner!"
Paula, Lionel and Katy will be tasked with choosing two singers in jeopardy of elimination from the Top 16 to advance to the next round of competition.
The 10 contestants who received the most home-viewer votes from Sunday night's Top 16 performance show will automatically advance to the Top 12.
Luke has served as a judge on American Idol with Lionel and Katy since ABC revived the reality singing competition series in 2018.
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As for Paula, 58, she sat on the judging panel as an original judge next to Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson when the series premiered its first season in 2002 on Fox.
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Paula, who recently appeared on The Masked Dancer as a panelist, critiqued singing hopefuls for eight American Idol editions through 2009.
When taking into account Paula's former attitude and judging style on the show, she will probably lend a positive and optimistic spirit to Monday night's Idol episode, similar to what Luke always brings to the table.
"I want everybody to be happy. I don't want to upset anybody and hurt people's feelings; it's just kinda my nature," Luke told Entertainment Weekly earlier this month.
"But sometimes you just have to tell the truth and tell them that wasn't their best performance. They need to hear that. But I think we've done a great job at being really constructive with it."
Luke added that telling a contestant "no" is never easy because he doesn't want a person to give up on his or her dreams.
American Idol currently airs on Sunday and Monday nights at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
