American Idol Recap 04/07/25: Season 8 Episode 8 “Head to Head”

American Idol Recap 04/07/25: Season 8 Episode 8 "Head to Head"
It’s another exciting night of American Idol on ABC tonight with an all-new Monday, April 7, 2025, season 8 episode 8 called “Head to Head” and we have your weekly American Idol recap below.

On tonight’s American Idol season 8 episode 8 as per the ABC synopsis,“The competition heats up as competitors face off in intense head-to-head battles, and this season’s new artist in residence, Jelly Roll, makes his highly anticipated debut.”

Tune in tonight at 8 PM EST! Celeb Dirty Laundry is your go-to place for all the up-to-date American Idol recaps, news, videos, spoilers, and more, right here!

Tonight’s American Idol recap begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!

At the start of the night, many of the contestants were worried. They thought yesterday was the deciding factor on whether or not they made it into the top twenty-four but there was an upside to the judges dragging this out. They gave the contestants one more chance to impress them. There were quite a few people that screwed up yesterday. Tonight could be their redemption song. They just had to choose their partners wisely. The contestants had to perform duets and partners make or break a performance.

The contestants also received additional help from a celebrity mentor. Jelly Roll was that mentor this season. He did his best to help everyone. Up first was Thunderstorm Artis and Drew Rynn. They performed “The Night We Met”. They both had the same problem. They sometimes get lost in the song to the point where they sing with their eyes closed. Jelly Roll spotted that instantly and helped them correct it. Their performance was really good. It was downright perfect. Their rendition was very moving and it redeemed them in the judges’ eyes because yesterday wasn’t as good.

Both of them made it into the top twenty-four!

Next up Sonny Tennet and Che. Both of them were from the United Kingdom. They got on really well. They chose the song “Shallow” in spite of it being a love song. They chose it because it highlights their voices well. Or at least it did in rehearsals because Sonny tripped up tonight. He wasn’t at his best and he realized that for himself. He didn’t need to be told. Sonny didn’t make it into the next round. His buddy Che did. It was now up to Che represent the brits. And after them, there was Penny and Grayson.

They both chose the same song during the Arena round. They were a lot a like and they naturally gravitated to each other when it came time to pick a partner tonight. They chose the song “Wildflower”. Jelly Roll loved that song for them. He thought their voices brought in such an ethereal tone that it fit right in with Billie Eilish. The judges would go on to agree with that sentiment. They loved this performance. The ladies had a problems yesterday and tonight reminded the judges how talented they were. The both of them made it into the next round.

Next up was Josh King and MKY. The guys chose “Until I Found You”. They were great in rehearsals. The partnership began fracturing the second Josh started doubting himself. He forgot words. He didn’t think his rendition sound as good as it should be. He let these things eat away at him. It was Jelly Roll that got him to snap back to his old self. He reminded him that he was great in rehearsals. He got Josh back to where he needed to be and he went on to give a great performance with MKY. They even had the judges singing along with them at one point. And that’s how they both ended up in the next round.

Victor Solomon and Amanda Barise were next. They chose “Lady Marmalade”. They were doing well and then Victor’s voice became stressed. He needed to take a vocal break or risk losing his voice. Which would have cost him his spot tonight so he took the rest. He came back stronger having taking that rest. He and Amanda were great together. Their rendition was lively. It took them from being an underdog into the top twenty-four. The spots were filling up because so many of them came back stronger tonight and the judges won’t know what to do with them all.

That’s the downside. The judges had to take a group of forty-two down to twenty-four. There were eliminations during the commercial break. Yani was one of them. She performed “Please Please Please” with Kyana. The judges preferred Kyana over Yani. Kyana made it into the next round but Yani did not. Slater Nalley and Nina Daig were next. They performed “I Remember Everything”. They went and back forth with which song to pick. They didn’t want to perform a song that someone else chose. They also couldn’t find space to rehearse.

These two practiced all hours of the night trying to get their rendition right. By time the two made it to the stage, they finally got all the words right. Nina hadn’t known the lyrics to the song before then. She started off shaky at her final performance and became stronger with time. It was good only she knew it could be better. Slater was the one that impressed everyone. He’s consistently showed up with every performance and that’s what the judges took into account. Slater made it into the next round. Nina sadly did not.

Next up was Keilene and Baylee. They chose “Shallow”. Something they probably regretted after tonight. The two of them were performing the song one way and it was leaning heavily in Keilene’s favor. Jelly Roll reminded her that Baylee needed to shine as well. She was a powerhouse but it was a duet and Baylee struggled with the song at first. They had to rearrange everything just so that Baylee would have his moment. Even the judges were worried that Keilene would bury Baylee tonight when they saw the pairing. They said as much to the contestants.

Baylee found his footing in the end. Keilene sadly lost hers. The judges chose to keep Baylee and Keilene was eliminated tonight. Next up was a duet from the Platinum ticket holders. They chose the song “Die With A Smile”. Both Filo and Kolbi Jordan have two big voices. Jelly Roll reminded them to give each other time for the quiet moments and not just the big moments. It was okay to scale back some. His advice came in handy because the judges admitted they were worried they would overpower the song and were quite happy when they were dazzled with their full range.

Both Filo and Kolbi made it into the next round. They joined their fellow platinum ticket holder, Canaan. The next act sounded familiar because there was another duet of the song “Shallow”, Isiah and Krystal paired together for this one. They were both coming off on less than stellar performances. They tried to redeem themselves tonight and it didn’t fully work because both of them didn’t know the song as well they should have. They really should have chosen a different song that would have made them both shine because “Shallow” wasn’t it.

Especially as the judges have heard three renditions of this one song at this point. Krystal knew the song. Isiah didn’t. Isiah still managed to shine even if his performance wasn’t as great as it could be and that’s what the judges remembered. They kept Isiah. They eliminated Krystal. Crews Wright and Kam’ron Smith were next. They brought a country explosion to the stage. They chose the song “How Great Thou Are”. Kam’ron didn’t really know the song when they first picked it. He learned it the night before his performance and so there was a moment when his eyes rolled up to the back of his head.

It was his body’s way of saying “wait, I got that”. The guys sounded great together. It’s just that they weren’t confident in their performance and both of them were sadly eliminated tonight. Next up was Desmond Roberts and Jamal Roberts. They originally chose the song “No Air”. One of them knew the song better than the other. The vocal coach and even Jelly Roll suggested a different song. They chose “the Door”. Neither of them knew this song prior. They learned it together. They became stronger together.

Jamal didn’t think he did well. He panicked the whole time backstage while the judges made their decision. There were only three spots left at that point and Jamal was beating himself up right until the judges said both of them are going through. They had nothing to worry about. They were great, but with one spot left, it meant that the next pairing would be competing directly against each other. It was no longer about the duet. It was about who shined the most. Breanna Nix vs Rylie O’Neil. The two women bonded over being moms and they developed such a great connection that Jelly Roll was left impressed.

They chose the song “Gratitude”. Jelly Roll called the original performer. He wanted to show his friend how well the two women sounded and they were great. They brought everyone to church with that song. And then the judges had to ruin it by choosing one over the other.

They chose Breanna and that was it for the top twenty-four.

THE END