‘American Idol’ Finale Recap: Nick Fradiani Wins Season 14, Watch All Performances Here

Nick Fradiani, the rocker who has been steadily improving throughout the season, became the second to last American Idol winner on Wednesday night’s Season 14 finale.

Nick Fradiani Wins American Idol

Fradiani, 29, was the oldest finalist, competing against Clark Beckham, and the two kicked off the agonizing night with a performance with Fall Out Boy.

Before Ryan Seacrest announced the results, American Idol welcomed back a handful of this season’s eliminated contestants to perform and, essentially, fill the 2-hour finale with some kind of musical content. Tyanna Jones (rocking some awesome blue hair) and The Jacksons, singing a super fun medley of “I’ll Be There/ABC/I Want You Back.”

The top 6 female contestants – Jax Cole, Tyanna, Joey Cook, Adanna Duru, Maddie Walker and Sarina-Joi Crowe – also got to perform together with Nile Rodgers, singing “We Are Family/Le Freak/I’ll Be There/Good Times.”

Not to be left out, the Top 5 guys – Clark, Nick, Rayvon Owen, Qaasim Middleton and Quentin Alexander – got to perform a medley with Ricky Martin (yes, they sang “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”)

Jannelle Monae was the next star to stop by, performing “Yoga” with Adanna Duru.

Judge Jennifer Lopez took the stage, performing “Back it Up” with Prince Royce – who introduced himself as “your new boyfriend” – and Pitbull. Keith Urban followed with “Even the Stars Fall 4 U.”

Rayvon Owen was the next AI contestant to duet with a superstar – joining Jamie Foxx at the piano for “In Love By Now.”

After a brief interlude between performances courtesy of Ryan Seacrest, New Kids on the Block took the stage accompanied by 10-year-old Daniel Seavey.

Joey Cook joined Echosmith for a performance of “Cool Kids,” and Quentin Alexander took the stage next with Vance Joy for a nice rendition of “Riptide.”

Chris Brown was also present for the finale (for reasons that will never be explained) to perform “Fun” with Pitbull and Qaasim Middleton.

Finally, the Top 3 finalists got to take center stage: Jax joined Steven Tyler to perform “Piece of My Heart,” Nick took the stage with Andy Grammer and Clark accompanied Michael McDonald on “Takin’ it to the Streets.”

For the final performance of the night, judges J Lo, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr., joined forces for a fun performance of Rihanna’s “Diamond” and Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven.”

Finally, it was time to hear the results, and Seacrest brought Nick and Clark back onto the stage to announce that the winner of Season 14 is….Nick Fradiani!

New champion Nick Fradiani closed the show with an emotional performance of his crowning song: “Beautiful Life.”

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.