Lionel Richie has Santa Barbara “Dancing on the Ceiling”

Santa Barbara was “Dancing on the Ceiling” Tuesday as living legend and American Idol judge Lionel Richie performed at the Santa Barbara Bowl.

The crowd was “Stuck On” the Commodores crooner, our crews could have stayed at the Bowl “All Night Long” and it’s shaping up to be an American Idol August.

Richie said it felt like his family reunion because he knew so many people in the audience.

The four-time Grammy Award Winner confirmed Monday that he will be returning for the next season of American Idol along with Luke Bryan and Santa Barbara’s hometown star Katy Perry – whose parents were spotted in the audience – and so was Andrew Firestone.

The American Idol gang was in full force, as fan-favorite Uche took in the show. With auditions coming up, he says producers want something different and they’re not looking for your stereotypical pop-star.

“I wanted to sing songs and perform on stages my entire life and Idol gave me the platform to do so and so I took it and I was really, really scared and I almost didn’t have enough money to fly to the audition but I made it happen and then I met this dude and look what happened,” said Uche from Season 17.

“He’s a crossover king even for him to see me and critique me and help me get better and be in my life the way he has, and really really, really support me it just felt really good, he’s a legend, like he’s a legend’s legend,” Uche adds.

The American Idol bus will be rolling through California.

Season 18 premieres Spring 2020 on News Channel 3 and auditions will be held on August 23rd right here in Santa Barbara.

Producers say they’re still working on contracts for a location but your time to shine in front of producers is coming up.

We’ll have more with some fan-favorite American Idol contestants and show producers live on set Wednesday on the Morning News.