© 2026 ABC News

Ryan Seacrest, the longtime host of \"American Idol,\" said he had flashbacks when he saw Lambert and Hudson on the Oscars red carpet.

\"When I saw Adam and talked to him beforehand he was so excited to be opening up the show,\" Seacrest said. \"When you watch the single shot of Adam singing with Queen, it was like I was watching an episode of 'American Idol.'\"

He continued, \"Jennifer Hudson was at the finale there in the Dolby Theatre too and said to me when she walks down the red carpet she remembers vividly those moments of being on the show.\"

Seacrest has seen a number of impressive vocalists over 16 seasons on the competition. But it's the show's \"credibility\" that has brought out the \"amazing talent\" season after season, he said.

\"One reason I love hosting the show is the credibility the show has,\" he said. \"Not only are these contestants coming up to be on a TV show that's popular, they're actually going to do something in the world of music.\"

Bryan said some of the top talent this season are contestants who took the judges' criticism to heart.

\"That's the best way to compliment the show and us and what we're trying to do,\" Bryan said. \"We've had a couple of kids come back and they took our criticisms -- and what's really rewarding is they see it too.\"

He continued, \"That's the beauty -- I feel like we try to grow every day as artists, judges, songwriters. To watch these kids in their infancy growing in front of our eyes is so inspiring.\"

\"American Idol\" returns on Sunday March 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/american-idol-judges-drop-hints-amazing-talent-season/story?id=61351283","legacySlug":"/culture/story/american-idol-judges-drop-hints-amazing-talent-season-61351283","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"15:15","publishDate":"02-27-2019","updatedTime":"21:30","updatedDate":"03-01-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"ABC's \"American Idol\" judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan with host Ryan Seacrest.","credit":"Eric Liebowitz/ABC","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/american-idol-new-abc-ml-180206_hpMain_2_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"2/27/2019 15:15:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":61351283,"headline":"'American Idol' judges drop hints about new season","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_AMERICAN_IDOL_190227","description":"The new season begins March 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.","duration":"8:22","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/03/190301_ntl_american_idol_1251_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["55325272","61403814","61349764"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"May 21, 2018","headline":"Two-part 'American Idol' finale begins with shaky starts, ends with surprise cameo","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/part-american-idol-finale-begins-shaky-starts-ends-55325272","id":55325272,"image":{"alt":"Two-part 'American Idol' finale begins with shaky starts, ends with surprise cameo","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/american-idol-finalists-abc-jc-180521_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Eric McCandless/ABC","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"March 1, 2019","headline":"'Idol' judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie hint at awesome new talent","section":"news","slug":"/video/61403814","id":61403814,"image":{"alt":"'Idol' judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie hint at awesome new talent","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/190301_ntl_american_idol_1251_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"February 27, 2019","headline":"Ryan Seacrest, 'American Idol' take over 'GMA' ","section":"culture","slug":"/video/61349764","id":61349764,"image":{"alt":"Ryan Seacrest, 'American Idol' take over 'GMA' ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/190227_gma_american_idol4_0748_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"'American Idol' judges drop hints about new season","description":"The new season begins March 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.","duration":"8:22","uploadDate":"02-27-2019","publication":"02-27-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/03/190301_ntl_american_idol_1251_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/03/190301_ntl_american_idol_1251_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/american-idol-judges-drop-hints-amazing-talent-season-61351283"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133350119","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307515","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307527","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063114","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133015093","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998564","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998072","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"'American Idol' judges drop hints about new season","pubTime":"10:15","pubDate":"02-27-2019","modTime":"16:30","modDate":"03-01-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":61351283,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"'American Idol' judges drop hints about new season","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_AMERICAN_IDOL_190227","videoId":61351283,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/american-idol-judges-drop-hints-amazing-talent-season-61351283"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/61351283","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/61351283","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};