18-year-old Iam Tongi defeated Megan Danielle and Colin Stough to win American Idol season 21 on Sunday night.
Tongi got recognition back in the audition rounds for his rendition of James Blunt’s “Monsters,” which he performed in honour of his late father Rodney.
Back during the audition rounds, Tongi went viral for his cover of James Blunt’s “Monsters,” which he performed in tribute to his late father, Rodney. “I was not worried about whether you were going to make it through the song, I was worried about whether we were going to make it through the song. Your daddy is very proud,” Lionel Ritchie said afterwards.
Last night, during the three-hour(!) finale of American Idol, Blunt joined Tongi on stage to perform a duet of the song.
A few days prior to the conclusion, Tongi released his original song “I’ll Be Seeing You,” which was also dedicated to his father. The first artist from Hawaii to win American Idol is Tongi.
During Sunday’s three-hour presentation, which was broadcast live on ABC across the country, the last three contenders, Megan Danielle, Colin Stough, and Iam Tongi, each ascended the stage for the last time.
The judges for this last round of the competition, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie, provided criticism as usual, but all they had to offer were compliments and well wishes as the singers departed the program to begin their music careers.
The first song was performed by special guest coach Keith Urban, while the second song paid honour to each of the top three contestants’ home cities.
Ryan Seacrest, the host, then revealed the Top 2 competitors, who battled it out with original music. After singing Keith Urban’s “Making Memories of Us,” Tongi got the crowd to chant his name.
While Stough added his good ‘ol country boy charm to a Chris Stapleton song, Danielle sang out a Journey classic.
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