American Idol joins LA exodus as long-running series relocates production to ATLANTA in another major blow for struggling Hollywood

American Idol is the latest TV entity to exit Los Angeles in another blow for struggling Tinseltown. 

The long-running ABC singing competition is relocating to Georgia for the production of its forthcoming 25th season, Deadline reported on Tuesday. 

For more than two decades, contestants who advanced to the final rounds of American Idol were excitably told by judges 'You're going to Hollywood!' 

Now, it seems, they'll be told 'You're heading to the Atlanta area!', with sources saying the show is setting up somewhere close to the Peach State's capital city. 

Georgia has become a premier destination for entertainment industry creators in recent years, offering competitive incentives alongside New York City and LA.

It served as the filming location for Marvel's Captain America: Brave New World and Wandavision, and where Elizabeth Banks hosts the game show Press Your Luck. 

Georgia offers up to a 30% tax credit for unscripted TV shows that spend at least $500,000 there, which Deadline attributes to American Idol's move.

Los Angeles is struggling to remain as the nation's TV and movie production capital, with Variety reporting that the city has lost more than 45,000 production jobs since 'the end of the streaming bubble in 2022.' The situation was worsened by the writer's strike of 2023, which stretched on for five months. 

Meanwhile, as of Wednesday afternoon, TMZ reports that Paramount will imminently announce they are also moving their headquarters out of Los Angeles, in another major blow to the industry. 

Many Hollywood heavyweights themselves have also left Los Angeles, including Joe Rogan, Dennis Quaid, and Nikki Glaser. 

Big name stars such as Ellen Degeneres, Adam Levine and Gwyneth Paltrow have all decamped north to Montecito. 

American Idol's current line up includes host Ryan Seacrest and judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.

Auditions for the latest installment began on August 25, with the online nationwide search Idol Across America screening potential contestants in Georgia and the Carolinas on Wednesday.

The audition process will continue through September 28.

Season 24, the last to film in LA, wrapped in May, with Missouri-bred country singer Hannah Harper taking the crown.

Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson, 44, reflected on winning the inaugural season of the hit series in an Instagram post on September 4.

She shared a photo of herself surrounded by her fellow contestants as confetti fell around them and wrote, 't’s been 24 years, y’all ❤️ thank you for changing my life!'

American Idol showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick recently spilled what the show's producers and judges are seeking in the upcoming season. 

Wolflick told WJCL, 'It’s that person you can’t wait to walk into the room. You can’t wait for their next song, and you can’t wait to see them perform. It’s that special magic stardust.'

She advised aspiring music artists to 'just be yourself, because that’s what America will connect with.'