Host Ryan Seacrest said there were 26 million votes cast, which broke a record and was twice as many as for last year's finale.

Host Ryan Seacrest finally revealed at the end of the night that the American Idol Season 23 winner was Jamal, which meant that John took second place in the competition. Seacrest noted that “it’s been the biggest finale vote in ABC Idol history,” saying that they received over 27 million votes, more than double last year’s finale.