+ What to know about the 18 year old singer who lost his dad few months before his audition
On Sunday’s season finale of the singing competition series, Iam Tongi, 18, was crowned the winner following a stunning performance of his original song “I’ll Be Seeing You.
He was up against Megan Danielle and Colin Stough, who placed second and third, respectively.
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After host Ryan Seacrest crowned Tongi the winner, he sang “Don’t Let Go” as his family, the judges and audience members swayed along and celebrated the feat.
Tongi previously brought the judges to tears during his audition, where he dedicated the song “Monsters” to his father, who died months before his audition.
“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,” said judge Lionel Richie at the time, as Katy Perry noted, “What a fantastic song to pick. You’re making these grown men cry.”
“I cannot handle your heart breaking about your dad because my nephew lost his dad and he came to live with me and just seeing you missing your dad sucks. Gosh man, you’ve got a great voice. You did everything perfectly and I love you and want to see you have fun,” added Luke Bryan.
Earlier this month, Perry, 38, opened up to PEOPLE in a group interview about how the competition was fierce — but Tongi had something special.
“I think that the top three is strong, I think Megan Danielle has earned her right to be there and she’s got a new beautiful confidence,” she said.
Perry added, “The sound in the room when Iam comes on is undeniable. He’s an undeniable character. He’s just kind of got this incredible magic. You almost can’t explain it. It’s an it factor. It’s like you’re born to do this, and it’s undeniable.”
Meet Tongi
Iam is a high school senior, who attends Decatur High School in Washington.
He is from Hawaii and moved to Seattle three years ago
In November 2020, Tongi released his single “Dreams,” which is available to stream on music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
Iam is a social media star with over 400k followers on instagram and 700k on Tik Tok.
His father passed away just a few months before his audition for the TV show. After his audition aired, Iam posted an Instagram photo from his father’s graveside and wrote “I got that golden ticket dad, wish you were here”.
