American Idol Secrets Revealed: Contestant Paychecks, Living Arrangements and More – E! Online

What Do American Idol Contestants Do When They’re Not Performing on the Show?

They stay quite busy. 

Season two winner Ruben Studdard remembered how packed his schedule was with song selection, preparation, vocal coaching, and filming for show packages and commercials.

“Thursday we got the songs,” he recalled on a 2023 interview with West Byrd. “Friday we chose the songs. Friday-Saturday we taped commercials. Sunday we made final selections. Then Sunday night-Monday night we went to the studio to make sure everything was right for the track. And then Tuesday morning we would do a dry run of the show, like top to bottom. So when you see the package when people are like, ‘You should vote for X, Y, Z’ that’s already been taped Tuesday morning.”

Then, of course, there’s the actual show. “Wednesday is the elimination, and then it starts all over,” Ruben added. “And it gets even tougher when the group gets smaller because the work is the same.”

Jena Irene Asciutto has shared a similar sentiment.

“As the weeks went on and people were eliminated, the people left were responsible for filling that episode of time,” the season 13 runner-up told Business Insider. “So we were needed for more things. And I think at like top eight was when we started doing Ford commercials every Sunday.”