The fifteenth and final “American Idol” winner will be revealed Thursday night.
Midway through Wednesday’s show, we learned that said winner will either be Trent Harmon or La’Porsha Renae.
The two advanced to the final round on the strength of America’s vote. Their survival came at the expense of Dalton Rapattoni, who learned of his elimination on Wednesday’s broadcast.
Prior to receiving the news, Dalton did, however, receive the chance to perform “Strike A Match,” the song that would have been his coronation single had he won.
Harmon and Renae also performed their respective potential victory singles “Falling” and “Battles.”
On the heels of their performances, Harmon’s “Falling” has taken a commanding lead on iTunes. It is up to #19 on the all-genre US sales chart.
Rapattoni’s “Strike A Match” and Renae’s “Battles” follow at #48 and #49, respectively.
Unlike NBC’s “The Voice,” FOX’s “Idol” does not incorporate iTunes sales into the final vote tally. The hierarchy on iTunes will therefore have no direct impact on the final outcome.
It may not even provide an indication into how Americans are voting. While there is surely a degree to which iTunes sales reflect popularity, they are also driven by factors — such as quality of the record and popularity within certain demographics — that do not necessarily mirror those that drive actual voting.
— In addition to their potential coronation singles, Harmon and Renae would later perform two additional songs each (“If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and “Chandelier” in Harmon’s case, “A House Is Not A Home” and “Diamonds” in Renae’s case) as part of the “official” final round.