American Idol Season 20 Trailer Reveals Platinum Tickets, Formers Replace Bobby Bones

There’s something even bigger to fight for the show’s upcoming 20th season. In addition to the Golden Ticket, the judges will – or have already done so, because the audition rounds have already been filmed – award three platinum Tickets, one in each of the cities they audition in.

For the platinum tickets, however, two out of three is not enough. We’ve seen contestants slogging through the judges with a doubter on the panel, but the decision to hand out one of these babies has to be unanimous. You can see some of that in the show’s first real teaser.

Katy Perry broke it all down at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, as reported by TheWrap. In addition to being able to attend Hollywood Week, Platinum ticket holders receive an additional benefit.

“You can basically watch from the box seats in the theater,” she explained. “One day they can rest their voice, strategize, look at the competition and choose who they want to duet with.”

That’s quite a power, although Katy called it “a tiny benefit because they’re the cream of the crop.” A day’s rest for the vocal cords is big enough as we’ve seen many hopefuls burst into flames after blowing their voices.

Additionally, a day when you can mentally regroup and take a strategic move to take some control in a round of competition is great. Normally, the judges decide on the duet partners. By taking ownership of this, a candidate can choose someone they believe will complement each other and both shine, or even choose someone they know can dominate to make themselves look better .

A rare bit of control in a week that’s usually so overwhelming and out of control can do so much to center someone and give them even more confidence in their journey.

There will be three Platinum Tickets awarded – one each in Nashville, Austin and Los Angeles – so it will be interesting to see how many of those three can survive all week.

Another big change this season will be the absence of Bobby Bones, who had become the internal mentor to the contestants. Due to a scheduling conflict, Bones isn’t available this season, but instead of trying to bring in someone new, “Idol” will be coming together with several people…well, we won’t say old, so we’ll just say familiar.

“There is no one who could replace Bobby per se but this year we will be leaning on our amazing american idol Universe alum to help our current idols at various stages of the competition,” executive producer Megan Michaels Wolflick said, per ET.

“A lot of these familiar faces that America has come to love will be featured throughout the season and we are very, very excited. And our alumni are excited to be back.” It’s a perfect fit in a 20th anniversary season, as anniversaries always make us nostalgic.

That’s exactly how Ryan Seacrest feels, as the only member of the cast remaining from this first season. “I want all of them to come back, way back from the beginning,” he said.

“I remember a moment with Clay and Ruben, I want to see Carrie again, I love seeing Jennifer Hudson,” he continued. “I can remember standing next to them and looking at their faces and reactions in moments of success and challenge.”

Considering how affectionate most of them have been about their connection to Idol and the fact that Seacrest is still involved, we’re expecting a string of high-profile reunions and returning familiar faces that should make for an exciting season full of the old (um, familiar) and new!

While things always need to be fluid, Wolflick emphasized that their hope is to return to having actual live shows in front of a studio audience instead of the “At Home” shuffle they had to switch to two seasons ago. We enjoyed the intimacy of some of these performances, but lack great spectacle unless they’re all in the same room together as the confetti falls.

“American Idol” returns on February 27 on ABC.