‘American Idol’ Honors Judges’ Hometowns, Cuts Competition to Top 4

There are just a few more weeks until the American Idol finale!

And on Wednesday night, the competition was once again whittled down, this time to the Top 4. But before Ryan announced who had been eliminated, the contestants performed songs from the hometowns of the judges Jennifer Lopez , Keith Urban , and Harry Connick Jr.

Clark Beckham was the first to be named into the Top 4 and celebrated with Stevie Wonder ‘s “Living for the City.” “Everything you choose always gets the audience going,” J.Lo praised him. “It was a really good start to the show.”

Next up was Jax , who honored Jennifer’s Bronx roots with Alicia Keys‘ “Empire State of Mind,” which was a big hit to the judge. “You understand that you can win this competition now,” she told Jax. “You mean business.”

Nick Fradiani was the third person to make it into the Top 4, and he performed Matchbox Twenty‘s “Bright Lights.” “That
was the most comfortable performance that you’ve done,” Harry told Nick. “I thought you sang the hell outta that song.”

Unlike previous weeks, there was no fan-voted save for the Bottom 2, Rayvon Owen and Tyanna Jones and it was the 16-year-old who was sent home. Tyanna said her goodbye with a performance of Beyonce ‘s “Girls (Who Run the World) .”

Rayvon celebrated making it into the Top 4 with a song to honor Keith’s hometown, Nashville: “ Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum.

For the second hour, the Top 4 sang their favorite soul songs: