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‘American Idol’ contestants test positive for COVID-19 ahead of live show
During American Idol’s live broadcast on Sunday night, host Ryan Seacrest revealed that two contestants, Noah Thompson and Fritz Hager, tested positive for COVID-19. “Let me bring you up to speed,” Seacrest announced. “Two of our finalists have tested positive for COVID-19. Earlier this week Noah Thompson was feeling ill so he is performing from his hotel room and just this morning Fritz Hager tested positive, you will see so his rehearsal video from yesterday. We have strict health and safety protocols and we continue to follow all local guidelines and wish them the best of luck.” Unfortunately, due to Noah and Fritz having COVID, both contestants had to participate in the Sunday night show remotely, but it didn’t seem to affect their performances too much. In fact, the judges thought Noah sounded even better. “Listen, for everyone here in the room, man, one of your best performances we’ve ever heard,” Luke Bryan told Noah after his first performance of the night. Later, after his second, Lionel Richie said, “I don’t know what happened here. I’m not going to wish you bad luck, but you know, when you’re sick, you feel a lot better. As for Fritz, the judges were grateful Idol taped the contestants’ rehearsals, so viewers could still take his performance into account this week. In the end, Noah and Fritz tested positive for COVID and couldn’t be there. in person had no bearing on their fate in the competition, as they both moved into the top five, along with Nicolina, Huntergirl and Leah Marlene, meaning we sadly said goodbye to Jay and Christian Guardino.