Haven Madison’s Fate Revealed On ‘American Idol’

17-year-old Haven Madison has captured the hearts of millions during her time on American Idol and she continued to do so with her Top 8 performance. But was it enough to secure a spot in the Top 5?    

Madison was excited to work with guest judge Alanis Morissette, who was also on hand to mentor contestants.  

“Alanis Morissette laid the groundwork. I feel like created a culture about writing a song about whatever you want,” Madison said. 

She Worked Directly With Guest Judge Alanis Morissette

During the mentoring session, Morissette shared a piece of advice she once received from her father.  

“There’s three ways people will perceive you, Alanis… One is no matter what you do they’ll just love you, no matter what you do they’ll hate you and then there’s a whole other group of people who don’t give a shit. If that’s going to be the case, I might as well be exactly who I am in these songs,” she recalled of the advice he gave her. 

Madison then explained her decision to cover “You Learn” from Alanis Morissette’s iconic Jagged Little Pill album.  

A Clarksville, TN Native

“I chose that song because I just like the way she says do all the experiences, be yourself and you’re going to learn from everything,” she said. 

Madison, who hails from Clarksville, TN, recently learned to love her falsetto and Morissette encouraged her to continue to showcase it.  

“I’ve recently grown to love it and I haven’t been able to show it off on the show at all,” Madison acknowledged. 

Morissette said she was “excited” for Haven Madison. 

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“Being able to have control over falsetto is actually challenging and for Haven to have experimented with and hit the perfect pitch notes is amazing and not something I have,” she added. 

As her family watched on from the audience, Haven Madison delivered a standing ovation-worth rendition of “You Learn.” 

Morissette’s reaction was priceless. 

“Wow, just working with you a while ago and seeing you perform with the flip and confidence… you went small, big and gorgeous. I mean, you spoke about wanting to be authentic as you write as an artist yourself and you have that inside out music in your body thing. I want you to keep going if I have a say in it,” she said. 

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Ed Sheeran, who also appeared as a guest judge, added, “I was just really impressed vocally, it was nuts. It was just there and as soon as you kicked in with the chorus I was ‘oh.’ Really, really good, fantastic. Very captivating.” 

Luke Bryan recalled first meeting Haven Madison during her standout audition and went on to praise how far she’s come throughout the season.  

“I love that when we first met you, you were sitting at a piano playing original songs and now you’re up here… You’re real free with it, you’re smiling, you’re having fun, you’re making everybody comfortable in the moment and just what growth you’ve had,” he said. “I kept waiting for the falsetto, but you gave us the full voice, it was great. Great performance, love seeing it!”

Her Fate Was Revealed

At the end of the show, it was revealed that Haven Madison did not make the Top 5. She took to Instagram to reflect on her Idol journey and thank fans for their support.

“My @AmericanIdol journey has come to an end. It has been such an honor to perform on that stage and to have bonded with the people that have turned into extended family along the way,” she wrote. “I am so happy to have shared my music with all of you and I hope you keep listening because there’s more where that came from. 🥰 Thank you for helping me live this dream of a lifetime!”

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Ed Sheeran and Alanis Morissette are temporarily replacing Katy Perry and Lionel Richie while they are in England performing as part of the Coronation Celebration for King Charles III. 

“I can’t wait to guide you through this stage of the competition and career and yeah this is the first time I’ve done this on American Idol, I can’t wait to take the iconic American Idol stage,” Sheeran previously shared. “Mostly, I’m just looking forward to meeting all of you and talking through life and music and I hope you’re having a great time and I’ll see you very, very soon. Lots of love.”

“I am so excited to be mentoring and hearing your interpretations of my songs. I can’t wait to hear them and surprise I’m going to be guest judging with Luke as well. So I can’t wait to see you,” Morissette previously added.

Perry and Richie made a brief appearance during Idol with a video from Windsor Castle.

American Idol airs on ABC.