State Champ Radio American Idol
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Newly crowned American Idol winner Iam Tongi sends a pair of songs onto Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart (dated June 3), paced by his original track “I’ll Be Seeing You,” which soars in at No. 1.
The song bows with 11,000 downloads sold May 19-25, according to Luminate.
It’s followed by his cover of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All,” which debuts at No. 19 with 2,000 sold. The song jumps 559% in sales; he initially made it available for download in March and performed it during the ABC competition’s top 20 episode in April.
“I’ll Be Seeing You” also debuts at No. 2 on the all-format Digital Song Sales survey.
In all, Tongi’s catalog so far moved 17,000 downloads May 19-25, a 1,899% boost from 1,000 sold May 12-18. His songs “Trust Me,” “Gone,” “Dreams” and “Efiafi,” the latter featuring Manatau Tuifua, all also accumulated 1,000 paid downloads apiece in that span.
“I’ll Be Seeing You” additionally opens on a pair of multimetric Billboard charts, at Nos. 19 and 23 on Hot Rock Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, respectively. In addition to its sales, the song earned 911,000 official U.S. streams.
Tongi, 18, won the latest season of American Idol May 21, becoming the first Pacific Islander champion in the show’s history, dating its launch on Fox in 2002. He auditioned with a cover of James Blunt’s 2019 song “Monsters” and performed it with Blunt on the finale; sparked by their duet, Blunt’s “Monsters” bounds back onto Digital Song Sales at No. 3 with 10,000 sold, up 925%. It debuted at No. 3 with 9,000 sold in March, then fueled by Tongi’s audition.
05/25/2023
See the complete list of American Idol winners.
05/25/2023
Time for some more girl power on the American Idol judges panel. Katy Perry took part in Buzzfeed Celeb‘s popular Puppy Interview segment, where she answered a bunch of questions all while playing with the cutest puppies you’ve ever seen. In response to what the most challenging part of being an American Idol judge is, […]
Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll reprised their recent performance of the latter’s “Save Me” at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, bringing their soulful duet to the stage of the season 21 American Idol finale on Sunday (May 21). Jelly Roll began the song solo, standing center stage under dim lights, before being joined […]
American Idol has a new champion.
Following months of auditions, solo highs, the goodbyes, duets, trips to California and Hawaii, all of it came to a head on Sunday night (May 21) as America chose its Idol.
For those who’ve been a passenger for this latest, 21st edition, the winner had announced himself months ago. The grand finale was confirmation of what many already knew.
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During the special on ABC, the three finalists – Iam Tongi, Megan Danielle, and Colin Stough – had their last chance to impress the viewers by way of solo performances and duets with the stars.
And, with millions watching on at home, the stars did come out. Keith Urban, Kylie Minogue, Ellie Goulding, Lionel Richie, TLC, REO Speedwagon, Pitbull & Lil Jon, and others filled the screens.
America chose Tongi and Danielle as the final two contestants.
There could be only one, and that was Tongi.
The Hawaii highschooler with the beautiful voice and the tragic story had captured the hearts of Idol obsessives in recent months. With each performance, Tongi’s legend grew.
On the final, he performed Keith Urban’s “Making Memories of Us,” “Cool Down,” got the tears flowing with a tribute to his own, late father, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and teamed-up with James Blunt for a rendition of “Monsters.”
Tongi can now kick start his career with a recording contract, part of the spoils that come with winning the annual competition.
Get the winning feeling below.
As three talented American Idol finalists — Georgia native Megan Danielle, Mississippi native Colin Stough and Hawaii’s Iam Tongi — gear up for the three-hour season 21 finale Sunday on ABC, they will be mentored by one of country music’s leading artists: two-time CMA entertainer of the year Keith Urban.
Nearly seven years after serving as an American Idol judge from 2012-16 (seasons 12-15 on Fox, before the show moved to ABC), Urban will return to the Idol franchise as a guest mentor and will also perform his 2022 top five Country Airplay hit “Wild Hearts.”
“I had a great time as a judge and being on the show. Every season was a blast for me, so to come back and get to mentor and perform as well feels fantastic,” Urban tells Billboard.
Urban spoke with Billboard about the keys to mentoring rising artists, some unique upcoming collaborations he’s been working on, and when fans might expect a new album.
What stands out to you about each of the contestants?
I was telling [Idol host] Ryan Seacrest the other day that I think these top three are such great choices because they’re so individual and that’s what you hope for: that there’s strong individual artistry. For me to get to work with them one-on-one is going to be fun for me.
I think song choice has been key. Certainly, Iam has been making great song choices along the way. I am looking forward to working with him, particularly. I think what I am gonna try and do is find things that really play to their strengths. It’s such an interesting balancing act, with songs that you love but maybe they don’t play to your strengths, so trying to find something that’s going to really have them shine will be key for me.
During the finale, each of the three finalists will be performing one of your songs. How does that impact how you will approach mentoring them on these performances?
I love somebody doing their own interpretation of a song. I would be making sure that they don’t do a straight cover unless [that] version brings out the best in them. You just don’t want to be a cover singer. You want to show that you’re an artist with your own artistry. I’m gonna be interested to see what songs they choose. I think they’ve each chosen two or three songs of mine and we’ll narrow that down to the one that they’ll do.
Are there moments from early in your career that you look back on as you are mentoring artists?
I think a big part of growing as an artist is knowing what advice to take but also knowing what advice to completely discard, no matter who is saying it to you. Your path and creative expression may be something so incredibly unique that it just breaks every rule. So I’m a big believer in looking for the strength of an artist — the passion, hunger, curiosity and dedication to it. And at the end of the day, you have to believe in yourself and the journey that you are on. It’s the only thing that will navigate you through all of the shine blockers and the naysayers out there.
You have been in the studio quite a bit lately. Can you give an update?
I was in there a chunk of last year, recording tons of songs, and then I sort of narrowed it down to just a handful, which meant I had to get back to the drawing board and build a whole bunch of new ones — that’s what this year has been more about. I thought I would put an album out at the beginning of the year, but I wrote a few songs and they pointed toward a different balance of an album. I kept writing and recording and I think I’m probably doing the other half of the album. … I’ve got crazy ideas for certain things, and finding people to help me with that in the studio has been a lot of fun. And most of it’s been done here in Nashville and it’s just been great.
Is there anyone new that you’ve been collaborating with that you are excited about?
I’ve got one person that’s committed to singing on a track with me, an artist that I love here in town. I’m so looking forward to getting into the studio with her. And I’ve got another song with a wild idea to feature somebody who’s not a singer, so we’ll see what happens. They are an actor; it’s not my wife. It’s just a long-shot idea I’ve got, but if it happens, it will be crazy fun.
Could we see a new album release later this year?
I so wish it could be out this year, but I think more likely it’s gonna be early next year, but I’ll definitely have at least another new single out in the next few months and hopefully another song or two before the end of the year.
Katy Perry was more than prepared for American Idol‘s Disney Night on Sunday — and her costume was also a perfect fit for the Mother’s Day episode. “My secret identity is…. Mom. Katy Perry. Popstar. #Idol judge. But tonight I’m ELASTIGIRL,” she shared via Twitter, along with several photos in which she’s dressed as Helen […]
The countdown to Disney’s The Little Mermaid continues, and to celebrate, American Idol‘s Disney Night saw its top five contestants battle it out for the remaining three spots in the competition. As part of the night’s events, Halle Bailey performed the film’s beloved song “Part of Your World” live from Disneyland on Sunday (May 14). […]
After Sunday night’s (May 14) semi-final that cut the roster of American Idol hopefuls to just three — Colin Stough, Megan Danielle and Iam Tongi — season 21 of the series is gearing up for a major finale. Next Sunday’s (May 21) three-hour finale will air live coast-to-coast on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. ET […]
Season 21 of American Idol is in its final straight, as three contestants lived out their childhood fantasy on Sunday’s (May 14) Disney night. On the evening, five became three as America cast its votes. Going through to next week’s final is Iam Tongi, Megan Danielle and Colin Stough, while We Ani and Zachariah Smith […]
