American Idol‘s Top 3 contestants who will be vying for the winning title have been revealed — and Luke Bryan’s got a “gut feeling” about it.
On Monday, May 12, Bryan opened up about his thoughts leading into Sunday’s finale with John Foster, Jamal Roberts and Breanne Nix.
“My gut has told me Jamal has… [been] a lead all year,” Bryan, 48, told PEOPLE in a group interview.
Still, Bryan acknowledged that it’s up to America to vote — and the contestants to remain focused.
“When you look at every time Breanna gets through, we’re like, ‘She keeps showing up and making it happen,'” the “Play It Again” singer said. “And then John Foster just seems to be gaining momentum.”
He continued, “Even if it’s something that Jamal’s kind of had the reins of, it could change with a little bit of not focus[ing] … so they gotta be focused all the way to the end. The music business never is not like that. You’ve gotta focus every day.”
Meanwhile, judge Lionel Richie said that the winner won’t necessarily be the most talented — but the one that America has grown to like the most.
“It’s an even playing field but it comes down to popularity,” the “Hello” singer, 75, said. “How many fans do they have that like them as people?”
He continued, “Right now, singing cover songs is great but when they have their own hit records, you start building their career. Right now, they’re falling in love with the artist.”
On Monday night, Slater Nalley and Thunderstorm Artis were eliminated from the competition.
Carrie Underwood — who won the show in 2005 — could relate to the contestants going into the finale and encouraged them to remain focused.
“We’ve had a condensed season. It was a lot longer when I was on the show. So they’re running to catch up the whole time,” the “Before He Cheats” singer, 42, said.
“I would imagine they feel more frenzied than I felt about the whole situation. It’s a totally different block out. You’re going to be doing a lot, going back to their own towns and everyone’s going to be on them,” she continued. “This is kind of a taste of what the rest of their career is gong to be like. We always call this star boot camp because you learn a lot really fast.”
During the finale, there will be various guest performers taking the stage including Brandon Lake, Goo Goo Dolls, Good Charlotte, Jennifer Holliday, Jessica Simpson, Josh Groban, Kirk Franklin, Myles Smith, Patti LaBelle and Salt-N-Pepa.
Judges Bryan, Underwood and Richie will perform together and artist in residence Jelly Roll will also take the stage for a performance.
The finale will air on Sunday, May 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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