Season 24 of American Idol is officially underway, but many viewers noticed something missing from the first night of Auditions: the platinum ticket! The show first introduced the addition of the platinum ticket during Season 20 in 2022, and it returned for Seasons 21, 22, and 23.
In the past, there were three platinum tickets handed out during Auditions, so not every Audition episode featured someone being awarded the special token. But is that the reason why we didn’t see the platinum ticket during the premiere, or has the show gotten rid of it?
Scroll down for everything we know about the platinum ticket in Season 24.
Are there platinum tickets in American Idol Season 24?
Yes, there are still platinum tickets in Season 24, but it seems that they’re going to be used a bit differently this time around. It does not appear that platinum tickets will be handed out during the Auditions, but rather during the Ohana Round later in the competition.
ABC announced the newly-added Ohana Round on January 22. It will take place in Hawaii when there are 30 artists left on the show. During this portion of the competition, the Top 30 will perform for industry tastemakers, including social media stars, entertainment journalists, singers, and other personalities. Three platinum tickets will be handed out.
“The judges have the power right all the way up to America’s Vote of who they want to put through and I thought it’d be interesting to do some sort of focus group before they get to America’s Vote to inform the judges of who people are responding to,” showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick told Deadline. “The judges will comment, and at the end, each of the groups will pick their favorite person. Those three people will get the platinum ticket. Back in the day, Kris Allen would have been the pick of the people and Adam Lambert probably would have been the industry pick. I’m super curious who the [potential] Idols are going to pick because they can’t vote for themselves.”
By the end of the Ohana Round, there will be 20 artists left in the running. In recent past seasons, the Top 20 is when viewers begin to have a say in who advances in the competition.