Reunited and it feels so good. Jimmy Kimmel got the gang back together on Monday, May 21, when he gathered American Idol rejects to perform a parody song answering the age old question: where are they now?
The late-night host, 50, told the audience he went to great lengths to form the reunion, by tracking the talent show’s alums down and booking a recording studio, so they could perform together while simultaneously poking fun at themselves.
The clip features William Hung, Sanjaya Malakar, Antonella Barbara, Chewbacca Girl, Kevin Covais, Haley Reinhart, Scott MacIntyre, Raynaldo Lapuz and ”General” Larry Platt. Hung and Malakar, in particular, joke at one point that being asked to be a part of the gag was “the first call for some of us in years.”
The “She Bangs” singer, 35, reveals he’s “single, so Snapchat me,” while Malakar, 28, says he works at a bar “mixing signature cocktails” while doing construction on the side. Chewbacca Girl (real name: Trista Gieise) now drives for Lyft and Uber, while Covais sings that he is now a notary public in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Reinhart, 27, shows off a pack of Wrigley’s gum because her music was used in a commercial, while MacIntyre says he is on his second kidney transplant and still doesn’t know “how to high five.” (He was referring to a moment between himself and American Idol’s host Ryan Seacrest, who grabbed MacIntyre’s hand to give him a high five because he is legally blind.)
American Idol winners Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks — who won in 2003 and 2006, respectively — also show up, singing, “We’ve sold millions of albums, what the hell are we doing here?” The camera slowly pans out and shows them in a separate room singing far from the rejects.
Former judge Randy Jackson also makes a special guest appearance at the end, where he tells the group that they sounded “phenomenal” — despite the fact that his headphones weren’t plugged in.
