Did Slater Nalley Make the Top 5 of ‘American Idol’ 2025?

High school student Slater Nalley, who made it into the top seven of “American Idol” season 23, vied for viewers’ votes again on May 11, 2025. It was the first of two Disney nights, during which contestants had to perform music from Disney’s vast song catalog. Viewers had less than two hours to vote for their favorites during the show, determining who would make it through to the top 5 of season 23.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not continue reading if you do NOT want to know whether Nalley made it into the top 5.

Voting closed during the final commercial break, and the results were handed over to host Ryan Seacrest to reveal which members of top 7 would advance to the top 5. So did Nalley make it through? YES, he made it through to the top 5!

Slater Nalley Met One of His Online Idols, FaZe Rug, in Los Angeles

It was quite a week for all of the contestants, including heading to Disneyland and working with guest mentor Lin-Manuel Miranda. But Nalley got an extra highlight when he was featured in a video posted by hugely popular YouTuber FaZe Rug.

The two happened to meet at a luxury hotel in L.A. and Nalley told him, “I’ve been watching you a long time, man.” He also got to encourage Rug’s 27 million YouTube subscribers to vote for him. Rug posted the video on May 10 and it had nearly 700,000 views in just 11 hours.

Nalley posted the video clip to his Instagram feed and many of his fans couldn’t believe his luck running into the YouTuber, including top 20 contestant Isaiah Misailegalu, who commented, “YOOOO THIS CRAZY BROTHER😮‍💨”

Slater Nalley’s ‘American Idol’ Audition Went Viral

Nalley has had his own experience with going viral, when his emotional audition for “American Idol” racked up views across social media, including 5.9 million TikTok views. Nalley performed an original tune called “Traces of You” for the judges, written in honor of his favorite teacher’s late son, Carter, who passed away in 2016, per Atlanta Magazine.

Michele Davis accompanied Nalley to his audition, standing on the sidelines as he performed the song, which he wrote based on a poem about Carter that she gave him, knowing that songwriting was one of his gifts. All three of the judges were brought to tears by his tune.

Nalley has continued to impress the judges with his selections and distinctive rasp. He made it into the top 7 with by singing “Atlantic City” by Bruce Springsteen. Bryan told him he thought his vibe fit the song’s style just right, and he loved the “energy” he brought to it. Richie said Nalley “pulled that off with such amazing abilities” and then joked he was impressed he could pull off a red fringe shirt!