Remote auditions took place from 26 July to 24 August 2025, as well as a number of open-call auditions, and from these, the producers selected the contestants who were then invited to audition in front of the judges.[6]
The Theatre round featured the top 25 golden ticket holder contestants performing for the judges. This round was filmed on X, at the Lata Mangeshkar Auditorium, and aired on 1 and 2 November 2025.[citation needed] The judges then narrowed the number of contestants down to 16, including the platinum mic holders.
The contestants performed in batches, as picked by the judges according to genre.
The following is a list of the contestants and the song they performed. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Color key:
This contestant advanced to top 16.
This contestant was eliminated.
Day 1–1 November 2025
Order
Contestant
Batch
Song
Result
1
Ankita Pradhan
1
"Aao Na Gale Laga Lo Na"
Top 16
2
Amritha Rajan
2
"Kay Sera Sera"
Top 16
3
Banashree Biswas
3
"Ab Ke Sajan Sawaan Mein"
Top 16
4
Shreenidhi Shastry
"Ay Hairathe"
Top 16
5
Arfin Rana
"Jaane Kya Jaane Mann"
Top 16
6
Tabish Ali
4
"Tumhe Dillagi Bhul Jani Padegi"
Eliminated
7
Manav
"Mast Kalandar"
Top 16
8
Lakshya Mehta
5
"Bheege Hont Tere"
Eliminated
9
Parinay Jain
6
Tumhe Jo Maine Dekha
Eliminated
10
Kalyan Sahay
Yeh Dil Tum Bin Kahin Lagta Nahi
Eliminated
11
Anurag Bhattacharya
Megha Re Megha Re
Eliminated
Day 2–2 November 2025
Order
Contestant
Batch
Song
Result
1
Sugandha Date
7
"Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam"
Top 16
2
Aaroh Shankar
8
"Kaun Hai Jo Sapnon Mein Aaya"
Eliminated
3
Dharmesh Nayat
9
"Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin"
Eliminated
4
Abhijit Sharma
10
"Tumne Mujhe Dekha Hokar Meherban"
Top 16
5
Shreya Verma
"Ni Mein Samajh Gayi"
Top 16
6
Suhail
11
"Ye Tune Kya Kiya"
Top 16
7
Tanishk Shukla
12
"Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho"
Top 16
8
Jyotirmayee Nayak
13
"Saiyan Pakad Baiyan"
Top 16
9
Vishal Mattu
14
"Ilahi"
Eliminated
10
Jayanti Dutta
"Bahut Pyar Karte Hain"
Eliminated
11
Sankalp Yaduwanshi
15
"Ae Dil Hai Mushkil"
Eliminated
12
Vishwanath Haveri
Not telecast
Eliminated
13
Aakarshit Wadhwan
14
Hrishikesh Karmarkar
Top 16 contestants
The contestant who made past the theatre round or got the platinum mic in the auditions, are listed below as follows:[8]
Contestant
Status
Abhishek Kumar
Amritha Rajan
Ankita Pradhan
Anshika Chonkar
Diwakar Choubey
Jyotirmayee Nayak
Manraj Veer
Shreenidhi Shastry
Suhail
Tanishk Shukla
Sugandha Date
Eliminated on 15th February 2026
Shreya Verma
Eliminated on 1st February 2026
Abhijeet Sharma
Eliminated on 18th January 2026
Banashree Biswas
Eliminated on 21st December 2025
Manav
Eliminated on 07th December 2025
Arfin Rana
Eliminated on 23rd November 2025
Gala rounds
After the theater round, every week all the contestants performing in the gala and are eliminated on a weekly basis.
The gala rounds were filmed at the P3 Infotech Film Studio.
Colour Key:
This contestant was saved by the judges' scores.
This contestant was in the bottom as per judges scores.
This contestant was eliminated.
This contestant won Indian Idol.
This contestant was the runner-up.
This contestant finished in third place.
This contestant finished in fourth place.
This contestant finished in sixth place.
Gala 1: Top 16 – Premiere Party
There was no public voting this week and the performance did not count in the competition. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
This week was the first judges' score week and the first elimination took place on basis of last week's votes and this week's scores. This week also was divided into two themes
This week was the second judges' score week and the second elimination took place on basis of last week's votes and this week's scores. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
This week was the third judges’s score week and the third elimination took place on basis of last week's votes and this week's scores. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
This week was the fourth judges’s score week and the fourth elimination took place on basis of last three week's votes and this week's scores. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
This week was the fifth judges’s score week and the fifth elimination took place on basis of last two week's votes and this week's scores. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
This week was the sixth judges’s score week and the sixth elimination took place on basis of last two week's votes and this week's scores. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Like last season, this season too, bi-weekly eliminations were held. One week public votes, next week, judges' scores. The bottom contestants are decided according to the judges' scores from that week, and the person with lowest votes from last week is eliminated.
Winner
Runner-up
Third place
Fourth place
Sixth place
Did not perform
Saved by the judges scores
Bottom
Eliminated
Indian Idol season 16 – Eliminations
Contestant
Place
Top 29
Top 16
Top 15
Top 14
Top 13
Top 12
Top 11
Top 10
Theatre
Gala 2+3
Gala 4+5
Gala 6+7
Gala 8+9+10+11
Gala 12+13
Gala 14+15
Gala 16+
1/11
2/11
15/11–23/11
29/11-7/12
13/12-21/12
27/12-18/1
24/1-1/2
7/2-15/2
21/2-
Abhishek Kumar
N/A
Safe
Amritha Rajan
Safe
Bottom three
Safe
Ankita Pradhan
Safe
Anshika Chonkar
N/A
Safe
Diwakar Choubey
N/A
Safe
Jyotirmayee Nayak
N/A
Bottom four
Safe
Bottom three
Manraj Veer
N/A
Safe
Bottom three
Safe
Shreenidhi Shastry
Safe
Bottom three
Suhail
N/A
Safe
Tanishk Shukla
N/A
Safe
Bottom four
Safe
Bottom three
Safe
Sugandha Date
11
N/A
Safe
Bottom three
Eliminated
Shreya Verma
12
N/A
Safe
Eliminated
Abhijeet Sharma
13
N/A
Safe
Bottom three
Eliminated
Banashree Biswas
14
Safe
Bottom four
Bottom three
Eliminated
Manav
15
Safe
Eliminated
Arfin Rana
16
Safe
Eliminated
Aakarshit Wadhwan
N/A
Eliminated
Aaroh Shankar
N/A
Eliminated
Dharmesh Nayat
N/A
Eliminated
Vishwanath Haveri
N/A
Eliminated
Vishal Mattu
N/A
Eliminated
Hrishikesh Karmarkar
N/A
Eliminated
Sankalp Yaduwanshi
N/A
Eliminated
Jayanti Dutta
N/A
Eliminated
Anurag Bhattacharya
Eliminated
Tabish Ali
Eliminated
Kalyan Sahay
Eliminated
Parinay Jain
Eliminated
Lakshya Mehta
Eliminated
Production
The project head for the season was Chitra Langeh, and Akash Tiwari wasagain joining the head of production. Pratyush Prakash was the writer of the series. Music guidance and music band were headed by Anand Sharma and Randeep Bhaskar. Aradhana Bhola, the managing director of FremantleIndia was the executive producer of the series. The season was directed by Saahil Chhabria. Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited took the whole charge again.[6]
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