The American Idol Season 24 finale airs tonight at 8 pm Eastern/5 pm Pacific on ABC, and Hannah Harper is still the heavy favorite to take home the title.
Harper's price sits at 82% on the American Idol finale market, which increased by five points since her widely praised semifinal performance. Jordan McCullough follows Harper on the market at 13%, while Keyla Richardson sits at 5%.
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Harper’s run
The 25-year-old singer from Missouri has been a favorite to win this season since she first stepped out on stage in front of the celebrity judges.
The Deseret News' Lottie Elizabeth Johnson recalled a moment from the season that went viral and sent her stardom racing to the top of the show. Harper sang an original song called "String Cheese" about motherhood and raising her three children for her audition. The song made Carrie Underwood cry on camera.
Harper told the newspaper she wrote the song while experiencing postpartum depression just before giving birth to her youngest son. Her son came up to her asking if she could open a piece of string cheese for him, which she really didn't feel like doing.
"And I finally opened his cheese, and when I did, I realized that God had put me in that place, and that where I was in my house was the biggest ministry that I could ever have, in being a mom," she continued. "So, I gathered myself, and I got up off the couch, and I quit throwing a pity party, and I realized that that was exactly what I wanted."
A setback
However, her run this season wasn't an entirely smooth one.
Primetimer reported that during the season's "Hollywood Week" competition, Harper chose to sing Lee Ann Womack's "A Little Past Little Rock" on guitar and she missed a few of the words and a bit of her timing.
Despite the mistakes, she powered through the rest of her appearance, and the judges were impressed with how she handled her missteps.
Best performances
Harper went viral twice — first with her audition, then during the Top 12 episode where she sang Jo Dee Messina's "Heads Carolina, Tails California" as Messina herself walked out to surprise her mid-performance.
Her cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" cemented her status as the frontrunner. Country Rebel's Tiffany Aaron said Harper "won over America and the Idol judges with her mountain bluegrass sound early in the competition. She's brought her unique voice to every performance ever since."
The takeaway:
While Harper has been the clear favorite all season, there is still a nearly one-in-five chance that McCullough or Richardson will pull off an upset.
Kalshi markets now predict:
Hannah Harper winning American Idol: 82%
Jordan McCullough winning American Idol: 13%
Keyla Richardson winning American Idol: 5%
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