American Idol
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Late night will be a lot quieter in the midst of the Writers Guild of America strike that began Monday (May 1) after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to produce a new deal.
So far, the first strike in 15 years means that all your favorite late night talk shows will be dark for the time being, with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Steven Colbert and Seth Meyers turning off the lights and The Daily Show also taking a break for the foreseeable future. Their solidarity with the strikers will keep musical acts from promoting their latest projects on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show and Late Night, eliminating a vital source of television promotion.
The three biggest reality singing shows will carry on without any interruption. A source close to American Idol tells Billboard that there is not expected to be any impact on the current season, which is slated to wrap up on May 21 with a three-hour finale. Similarly, Fox’s Masked Singer — whose episodes are pre-taped well in advance — will keep revealing celebrity singers through its May 17 finale. At press time a source close to The Voice — which wraps with a two-night finale on May 22-23 — tells Billboard the NBC series also does not expect to change gears over the next three weeks.
But the work stoppage also means Pete Davidson’s anticipated comeback to Saturday Night Live this weekend (May 6) with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert has been put on ice. According to Variety, Sunday night’s (May 7) live 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards is pulling the ripcord on their “contingency” plan after months of planning for the long-expected strike.
The production reportedly stockpiled “several short films” before the strike began, though any other scripted elements “can’t be updated or revised” with the writers on the sidelines, meaning there might be less of the expected topical or in-the-moment commentary pumped into the Teleprompter for presenters and host Drew Barrymore during the broadcast.
The MTV event will be the first major awards show since the strike was called and the unnamed production source said nothing that was written before can be changed at this point. Barrymore told Variety that planning was key. “The things that we have planned to be in the body of the show, we made efforts to have those plans be in place,” the actress and daytime talk show host said. “Our respect and solidarity is not only intact, we are covering ourselves so that we can do the appropriate thing. Nobody here is tone deaf… I think we’ve been acting in accordance of being the most appropriate to everyone we support, and have a plan for that in place.”
Further down the line, Yellowjackets co-creator Ashley Lyle tweeted on Tuesday that the Showtime drama, whose episodes are typically packed with classic alt-rock from the 1990s, has stopped work on the in-process third season as its second season continues to roll out. Anticipating a work slowdown, many studios stockpiled episodes and movies to weather the storm in light of the last work stoppage in 2007, which lasted 100 days.
That means artists and rights holders who locked in synch deals for the placement of their songs in already wrapped shows and movies should not be impacted, while those who were working to secure such deals may face days, weeks, or possibly months of delays in finalizing future synchs.
“While company profits have remained high and spending on content has grown, writers are falling behind,” the WGA said in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “The companies have used the transition to streaming to cut writer pay and separate writing from production, worsening working conditions for series writers at all levels. On TV staffs, more writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks, or in mini-rooms, while showrunners are left without a writing staff to complete the season. And while series budgets have soared over the past decade, median writer-producer pay has fallen.”
The Reporter also noted syndicated daytime talk shows will, for the most part, not be affected, as The View, Live With Kelly and Mark and Tamron Hall — all of which frequently feature musical guests — do not staff WGA writers; The Talk, which does employ WGA writers, is airing banked shows for this week and next and will then shift to repeats.
The Kelly Clarkson Show, home to the beloved daily Kellyoke segment and frequent sit-downs with fellow musicians, employs guild writers but tapes episodes in advance and has “a bank of shows on which to draw.” Another popular daytime talker, The Drew Barrymore Show, has wrapped production on its season.
American Idol will be down two judges on Sunday night (May 7) when Katy Perry and Lionel Richie jet to England to take part in the coronation of King Charles III. But they will have some serious ringers filling in during their absence: Ed Sheeran and Alanis Morissette.
During Monday night’s (May 1) show it was revealed that the pair will join Luke Bryan as guest judges on Sunday during the show’s “616” episode, where America will cast their votes for the top 5. Morissette will pull double-duty as guest judge and mentor to the top 10, who will perform her songs live, with the finalists also teaming up with each other on duets of Sheeran’s hits.
Both Sheeran and Morissette will perform on the episode, with Alanis sharing one of her classics and Sheeran playing his new single, the ballad “Boat.” And though Katy and Lionel will be getting the royal treatment, they will check in from Windsor Castle on Idol LIVE.
The top 10 battled it out on Monday night’s episode, with Hawaiian high-schooler Iam Tongi crushing it with his version of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” complete with some homey touches. After ditching his trusty guitar for Sunday night’s episode during performance of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me,” Tongi donned a colorful Hawaiian shirt and performed with a ukulele. Tyson Venegas and Marybeth Byrd were eliminated, while Oliver Steele earned a judge’s save.
American Idol airs live coast-to-coast on Sunday from 8-10 p.m. ET/5-7 p.m. PT on ABC.
With the finishing line in sight for this 21st season of American Idol, Iam Tongi is leaving nothing to chance.
The Hawaii native has grown in confidence as the competition progresses, and continues to impress even in these nervous final stages.
During Monday night’s (May 1) top 10 episode, the high-schooler took it home with a rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” complete with some local touches. After ditching his guitar for Sunday night’s episode, and a performance of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me,” Tongi donned a colorful Hawaiian shirt and performed with a ukulele.
Accompanied with a steel guitar, Tongi’s talents were all on full display – control, tone, warmth. The crowd and judges are clearly rooting for him.
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Born in Kahuku, the lovable teen is still grieving the loss of his dad, his musical mentor, though he’s throwing it all into his magical Idol run.
“When Iam’s dad passed away,” the contestant’s mom said during an earlier episode, “he didn’t wanna sing anymore. He kept saying that every time he sings, he could hear his dad backing up. After talking to him… it’s a beautiful thing that he could hear his dad.”
Following the latest show, Tyson Venegas and Marybeth Byrd were eliminated. There was a surprise to come when the three judges saved Oliver Steele, the 25-year-old from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee who dueted with Tongi last month, and whose own dad, a professional bluesman, has endured life-changing health problems.
What isn’t a surprise is that Tongi goes through to the final 8. He’s the gift that keeps giving.
Next Sunday (May 7), Idol will present performances from the surviving contestants, along with performances from top 8 mentor Alanis Morissette and Ed Sheeran, who both join Luke Bryan as guest judges.
Watch below.
Adam Lambert made a name for himself back in 2009 when he battled into the runner-up sot on American Idol‘s eighth season with a repertoire that included soaring, powerful covers of songs by Johnny Cash and Smokey Robinson that displayed his flair for finding a unique lane on well-loved classics.
After years of solo hits and an ongoing stint fronting classic rock powerhouse Queen, Lambert was back on familiar ground on Sunday night (April 30) when he returned to the Idol stage for a rocking cover of the 1973 Anne Peebles hit “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” The slow-burn ballad — famously covered by Tina Turner in 1984 on her Private Dancer album — got a electric reboot in the singer’s hands thanks to a set that surrounded him with digital purple rain showers.
With blue makeup tears dripping from his eyes and a typically understated all-leather ensemble spiked with sparkle accents, fingerless gloves, black platform books and a mesh tank top, Lambert bumped and grinded his way through the song, hitting all the high notes you’d expect and adding his patented glam magic to the R&&B burner.
Lambert dropped by just in time to meet this year’s Idol top 10, which was revealed on Sunday night. The singes vying for this year’s title are: Wé Ani, Marybeth Byrd, Megan Danielle, Haven Madison, Warren Peay, Zachariah Smith, Oliver Steele, Colin Stough and Iam Tongi.
The latter has been on a serious roll this season, earning hugs and bringing tears to the judges’ eyes with his gritty story and soulful vocals, including on Sunday night when Tongi ditched his guitar for a moving cover of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me.”
Check out Lambert’s cover of “I Can’t Sand the Rain” below.
If you didn’t have Iam Tongi making the top 10 of American Idol 2023, then never, ever gamble a cent.
Tongi has been lighting it up throughout the competition, earning hugs and tears from the judges, and cheers from millions more watching on at home.
The schoolkid from Hawaii comes across as a sweet kid with a tough story, but his talent is obvious when he’s at the mic. Katy Perry quipped that we were all watching The Iam Tongi Show. That might be the case, though he hasn’t scaled the summit just yet.
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On Sunday night’s top 12, Tongi ditched the guitar and performed a soulful cover of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me”. Just Tongi, a backing band and singers, and a sea of waving arms from the audience.
Tongi has an attachment to his guitar. His late father spent his holiday paycheck on a six-string for his son, then aged 13. Idol viewers saw how much that instrument means to the youngster when it needed to be repaired during the early weeks of this season and he had to go without it one week. Cue tears, everywhere.
On Sunday, Lucy Love and Nutsa were eliminated, Tongi and nine others went through.
On Monday night, the reveal of the top seven, plus a performance from Season 19 winner Chayce Beckham. We’re all still watching The Iam Tongi Show.
Catch the latest performance below.
Wé Ani
Born: Jan. 23, 1999 – Harlem, New York City, N.Y.
Favorite Alums: Jordin Sparks, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson
Musical Influences: Beyoncé, Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, Whitney Houston, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars, Yebba, Drake, Childish Gambino.
First Idol Experience: “I don’t remember an age when I didn’t know American Idol. You’d watch how [the contestants] went from somebody who was just auditioning to somebody who is performing on a huge stage and having all of America love them. I thought, ‘I want that to be me one day.’”
Growing up in Harlem and also in New Jersey, Wé Ani’s earliest memory of music is listening to the soundtrack to the 1939 film The Wizard Of Oz and then watching the movie. “We had it on VHS. I’d put it in and then I’d hit rewind as soon as I figured out how to hit the rewind button and then I got introduced to The Wiz and I thought, ‘I didn’t know they could do other versions,’ and it blew my mind. So I started diving into a lot of different artists and I knew that music made me feel amazing.”
Later, she became aware of her own vocal talent. “I knew I could carry a tune, but I didn’t think anything of it. I was a little naïve because I thought everybody could sing. I thought in order to be a superstar, you had to do everything, because Whitney [Houston] acted and she sang and she cut a rug on stage. Beyoncé did the same thing. Michael [Jackson] did the same thing. So I thought I’ve got to dance, I’ve got to play an instrument, I’ve got to act. When I was 11, people were telling me, ‘You sound like a grown-up when you sing.’ And I said, ‘Doesn’t everybody?’ My singing voice was really deep and my speaking voice was even higher [than it is now].”
When she was 12 and in middle school, “I was going through a really tough time and I didn’t have anybody. I didn’t have any friends or anything. Luckily I had my family with me, but I had music and that’s when I stumbled upon Queen and I listened to their albums so much. I started singing from a place of desperation, thinking, ‘I have to get this out. If their music can make me feel like that, maybe I can write something that can make somebody else feel a little bit better too.’” That’s when she wrote her first song, “Isolation.” “You wouldn’t think it was written by a 12-year-old. I was listening to a lot of emo stuff, a lot of grungy, strong, aggressive music. I was mentally in a dark place but I was trying to be encouraging for other people.”
In high school, she performed in musicals, including Man of La Mancha, 42nd Street and Celebration. At the same time, the teenage singer was doing homework and also going into New York City to sing in bars. “My goal was to get these adults who were in a bar on a weekday, trying to drink and watch some game, to turn around and watch me.”
Did that happen? “Yes. I’m really hard-headed and stubborn. I wanted to give people a good time.” She wasn’t paid for singing in the bars, but when she was 16, she performed at the Harlem jazz club Minton’s Playhouse through an afterschool prep program and was handed a check for $50. That led to performances at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress and the Apollo, competing four times at that famed venue, winning first place in the adults category twice, even though she was still only 16.
ABBAmania is back in a big way. After a 40-year dormant spell, the Swedish pop foursome has laid on a smorgasbord of music, merch and events for fans to throw their money, from their 2021 comeback album Voyage to their “virtual” residency at a custom-built arena in London, which recently sold its one millionth ticket.
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When Iam Tongi took his place on stage for American Idol on Sunday night (March 23), the teen hopeful created a little ABBAmania of his own.
The highschooler from Hawaii has had an incredible ride in this 21st season of Idol — and he’s taken millions with him on the journey.
Tongi has carried pain from the loss of his father throughout. On the latest episode, the youngster explained that he’s still grieving from the loss his dad, his musical companion and mentor. “When I sing,” he adds, “it’s so easy to express myself.”
Each step along the way, Tongi has impressed the heck out of the judges, and grown in confidence. On the latest, Top 20 edition, he did it again, this time with a stripped-back interpretation of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All”. Just guitar and Tongi’s warm, buttery vocals.
The lad’s mom was in the house, leading a standing ovation.
“I guess this is called the Iam Tongi Show now,” Katy Perry quipped in the wrap-up. “Can you believe what you’ve done. You’re 18. Your voice is timeless. What you’re giving us is transcending everything and hitting everyone in a certain spot. It doesn’t matter how old or young they are. Watching you become a star, feels like I’m watching a Disney movie.”
Keep watching, below.
Just because Katy Perry‘s on the American Idol judging panel doesn’t mean everyone’s going to agree with her. In fact, on Monday’s (April 17) episode, the competition show’s live audience in Hawaii went as far as to boo the pop star after she gave some harsh criticism to fan-favorite Nutsa Buzaladze.
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Buzaladze, who’s already earned a reputation for delivering show-stopping, high-energy performances, sparkled during her live rendition of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’ “Paris (Ooh La La).” But for Perry, there was a little too much sparkle.
“Nutsa, every time you take the stage, it’s like you glitter bomb the stage,” the “Firework” singer told the Top 26 hopeful. “Listen, I think one thing I personally would like to see from you is not one piece of glitter the next time. I know that’s gonna be hard.”
Fans in the audience, however, couldn’t have disagreed more. The crowd started booing loudly in response, causing fellow judge Luke Bryan to cheer, “Yes! Katy got booed. Katy got booed.”
Perry, however, was unfazed. “OK, first time in six seasons, woo hoo,” she dismissed the jeers. She then clarified to Buzaladze what she meant. “What I’m saying is that I’d like you to flip the script. I think we want to be pulled in by our hearts, too. I’d love to see that, and I think America might too.”
In Perry’s defense, Buzaladze herself has admitted she needs to learn how to dial it back a little. When the 25-year-old contestant first auditioned for Idol in Las Vegas, the “Roar” singer told her the energy was “turned up too hot.”
“My problem is, I feel always that I have a lot of energy,” the hopeful admitted a few weeks ago while preparing for the Hollywood Week solos round.
Watch Katy Perry get booed for the first time in six seasons above.
When Wé Ani rolled into Disney’s Aulani resort, she wasn’t there to chill and take snaps.
The Harlem native is, of course, one of the top 26 contestants in American Idol 2023. On Monday night (April 17), as the performances rolled on in Hawaii, Ani left nothing to chance.
With her dad watching on from the audience, Ani nailed her performance of “Edge Of Midnight,” Miley Cyrus’ Plastic Hearts number from 2020.
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By fusing rock energy with her big, bluesy vocals, Ani had the house jumping.
Earlier in the season, Ani stunned the judges with her audition, when her high-pitched speaking voice turned to creme brulee with a performance of Demi Lovato’s “Anyone.”
“You are amazing,” Lionel Richie said afterwards. “This class is shaping up to be ridiculous. And I don’t want to put you into the ridiculous category, but that was ridiculous.”
With the element of surprise apparently gone, she caught judges off guard once more. During Hollywood Week, she hit an original song, “Good For”.
The 24-year-old singer has amassed a TikTok following upwards of 700,000, found a wave of supporters on Idol, and she’s already delivered moments of the sublime and ridiculous on this 21st season of Idol.
Watch her latest performance below.
There are hometown heroes, and there’s Iam Tongi.
The American Idol contestant was on home soil for Sunday night’s episode (April 16), when the top 26 delivered their goods from Hawaii.
Tongi had the audience (and judges) swaying along with his cover of Spawnbreezie’s 2011 number “Don’t Let Go”. Of course, the youngster’s family and friends made their presence felt.
Appearing relaxed and happy, the high schooler kicked back for a performance that was rootsier than a planation of coconut palms, mellower than Mr Stay Puft. And to be certain, it’s going viral on YouTube.
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Tongi is the first Hawaiian to make it to his point in Idol, and he’s had to put tragedy to one side.
The teenager has overcome the recent loss of his dad, and some major technical issues, to glide into Idol’s Hollywood Week, and now Hawaii. If there’s a fan favorite in this 21st season, you’re looking at him.
Originally from Kahuka, Tongi impressed with a cover of James Blunt’s “Monsters” during the auditions round, and made his Hollywood Week one to remember with a performance of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and then a duet with Oliver Steele on The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears.”
Last week, he powered through Hollywood with a performance of “The Sound Of Silence” that was nothing short of “showstopping,” Katy Perry later remarked.
Watch his performance from Hawaii’s Disney Aulan below.