Iam Tongi is steadily proving himself to be one of the most exciting hopefuls on this season of American Idol. His emotional audition was enough to earn him a golden ticket to Hollywood, but his performance of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” on Sunday night (April 3) has the judges thinking he might go all the way.
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During his audition, Tongi let the judges—Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie—know his father had recently passed away. He performed “Monsters” by James Blake in honor of his dad, prompting instant waterworks from the panel.
“I can tell he meant a lot to you,” Richie told Tongi at the time. “When you love so deeply, you feel so deeply. So what you’ve just given us right now is the fact that you love that man so much, we’re there with you.”
Like his audition, the “Hollywood Week” performance saw Tongi keeping his dad in the forefront of his mind.
“I’m gonna make sure to open my eyes this time,” Tongi told Ryan Seacrest after being asked what he was focused on improving this week. “I’m used to closing my eyes when I sing.”
Seacrest then asked, “What do you see when you close your eyes?”
“My dad,” Tongi replied. “The main reason why I sing is because of my dad. He introduced me to music. He bought me this guitar that I’m going to play today. My dad is always with me because I sing. I can hear his harmony in it.”
Tongi took the “Hollywood Week” performance as a chance to “be something more.” He wanted to tap into a new confidence level and become a performer befitting of his soulful vocals. As far as the judges were concerned, he accomplished that goal in strides.
The 18-year-old chose to perform the 1991 ballad “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” With his hypnotizing vocals leading the way, Tongi earned a standing ovation from the crowd.
“This is the real deal,” Bryan said after Tongi exited the stage. “He’s in the Top 10. No doubt about it.”
“What we’re trying to find here are people that, in four or five notes of their songs, we know who they are,” Richie added while Tongi and his fellow hopefuls were waiting on the judge’s verdict. Tongi, unsurprisingly, earned a pass to the next round of Idol.
Check out the performance, below.
Photo: ABC/Eric McCandless
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