American Idol season 19 will premiere on Sunday, February 14 at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST). Presented by Ryan Seacrest, season 19 will see the return of judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie. Don’t want to miss out? We’ll explain how you can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to watch American Idol season 19 online even when traveling abroad.

In this article, we’ll only be recommending official sources for watching American Idol season 19. This is an extremely popular show which means there will likely be unlicensed streams. However, we don’t recommend you use these due to their inferior video quality. Unauthorized streams can even be taken offline for copyright infringement, causing you to miss out on the most important moments of American Idol season 19. Besides, there’s no need for unofficial sources as there’ll be various official streams available for you to enjoy.

American Idol season 19 will only be shown on region-locked platforms. To continue watching it abroad via your streaming services from back home, you’ll need to use a VPN.

How to watch American Idol season 19 online with a VPN

In case you’re wondering, a VPN allows you to change your IP address, making it appear as if you’re browsing from another location. One advantage of this is that you can then access geo-blocked content such as American Idol season 19.

Here’s how to watch American Idol (2021) online from anywhere:

  • Sign up with a reputable VPN provider. We recommend NordVPN. However, Surfshark and ExpressVPN are two great alternatives worth considering.
  • Download and install the appropriate VPN app or browser extension for your device (the device on which you plan to watch American Idol season 19).
  • Sign in to the VPN app and connect to a server in the US. You’ll then be assigned a US IP address, allowing you to unblock ABC from anywhere in the world.
  • Go to ABC and sign in with your TV provider. If you don’t have cable TV, you can sign up for a TV streaming service that offers ABC (more on these later).
  • Select the ABC live stream on ABC or via your preferred streaming service. The content should be unblocked. If not, try clearing your browser’s cache and cookies.

American Idol will air live on ABC. We recommend you test your VPN with ABC in advance to avoid disappointment. That way, you’ll still have time to contact your VPN’s customer support for further assistance if you have any trouble.

How to watch American Idol season 19 on US TV

You can watch American Idol season 19 on ABC. If you already have a US cable TV subscription, all you need to do is sign in with your TV provider. This requires you to enter your cable TV login details (username or email address and password). You can then live stream American Idol at no extra cost. Note that you can also watch full episodes one week after they premiere without having to sign in.

Fortunately, you can also watch American Idol on ABC cable-free by signing up for one of the following streaming services: FuboTV ($64.99 USD/month), Hulu with Live TV ($64.99/month), or YouTube TV ($64.99/month). ABC and the aforementioned streaming services are region-locked and only available in the US.

However you choose to watch ABC, you can watch it abroad by connecting to a VPN’s US server. This will get you a US IP address, allowing you to bypass regional blocking. NordVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. As such, you can try it out with ABC and request a full refund if it doesn’t meet your expectations.

Where else can I watch American Idol season 19?

American Idol has fans all over the world. However, live broadcasts are few and far between which makes ABC one of the best options for watching the season 19 premiere. Here are some of the main alternatives to consider:

Canada

One of the few live broadcasts of American Idol outside the US will be on CTV in Canada. However, it’s important to know that in order to watch American Idol season 19 live on CTV, you’ll need to sign in with your TV provider. Episodes are broadcast live on Sunday at 8 PM EST.

Newer on-demand episodes are available to watch without signing in. However, after a few weeks, you’ll have to sign in with your cable provider details in order to watch. As you might expect, CTV content is region-locked and only available in Canada. This is easily solved by connecting to a VPN server in Canada and getting a Canadian IP address.

UK

In 2020, Netflix UK released American Idol season 18 episodes on a weekly basis. Each episode was made available on Tuesday, following their Sunday night airing on ABC. As such, you’ll be able to watch American Idol season 19 on Netflix UK, albeit two days after its live broadcast.

The Netflix platform is geo-blocked and its content changes from one country to another. To stream American Idol when traveling abroad, a UK IP address is required. You can get one by connecting to a VPN server in the UK.

What should I know about American Idol season 19?

American Idol is a highly popular show that first aired on Fox in 2002. Since 2018, American Idol has aired on ABC. Over the years, the show has launched the careers of Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, and Kelly Clarkson. In season 19, we can expect to see the return of the show’s host Ryan Seacrest as well as judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie. Bobby Bones returns as the in-house mentor.

The season 19 premiere kicks off on Sunday, February 14 at 8 PM EST with a two-hour episode of auditions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format of auditions in season 19 changed. Idol Across America, a live virtual audition tour that uses custom-built Zoom technology, gave aspiring contestants the chance to virtually audition in front of an American Idol producer.