Slater Nalley wasn’t in the top three on finale night for American Idol, but his performance may have been the most memorable of the whole show.
Spoiler Alert! This article contains spoilers from the American Idol finale.
The season 23 finale came down to John Foster, Breanna Nix, and Jamal Roberts. After what Ryan Seacrest called “the biggest finale vote in ABC Idol history,” Jamal was crowed the winner, with John coming in second and Breanna third.
As usual, the finale was packed with special appearances by stars like Salt-N-Pepa, Good Charlotte, Kirk Franklin, Goo Goo Dolls, Brandon Lake, Jennifer Holliday, Jelly Roll, Myles Smith, PJ Morton, Patti LaBelle, The War and Treaty, and Jessica Simpson. The judges also performed during the evening.
Christopher Willard
The top 14 contestants returned to the stage to perform on last time. Slater, who made it to the top 5, was accompanied by judge Carrie Underwood to sing “I’m Gonna Love You,” Carrie’s 2024 duet with Cody Johnson. But, midway through the performance, Carrie turned to the back of the stage and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, please make welcome Cody Johnson,” and Cody himself walked out from the curtain to join the duo.
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Slater was truly stunned as Cody took the microphone to finish the song. Ryan joined them on stage afterwards (knocking Cody’s hat off on the way) and said, “Well that was a surprise, huh? We just saw your face when he came out between those doors there, and it was genuine thrill and surprise.”
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Slater replied, “I’m such a big fan. I did his version of Reba’s song earlier in the show, so big fan.”
American Idol shared the performance on Instagram and Slater commented with “SHOCKED.” Fans chimed in the comments section with messages like, “Your reaction was incredible. What a performance!” and “the trio we didn’t know we needed! You were awesome!” Another called it “Best moment of the night.”
Slater may not have taken home the win, but we’re excited to see what’s next in his career.
