Iam Tongi is reimagining “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” On Friday (October 27), the American Idol winner released his rendition of the iconic song from The Wizard of Oz that incorporates his Hawaiin sound into the classic song, making it sound totally like his own.
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Backed by a steel guitar, Tongi sits perched on a stool with his signature acoustic guitar in hand, the two instruments softly playing in tandem. Tongi closes his eyes and opens his mouth to let the mellifluous opening lyrics flow out. Somewhere over the rainbow / Way up high / And the dreams that you dreamed of / Once in a lullaby, he sings beautifully while gently strumming his guitar. “Thanks for all the continued love and support, excited to be dropping another song for you guys!” Tongi shares on Instagram.
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In September 2023, Tongi released the single “Why Kiki?” that followed “I’ll Be Seeing You,” which was unveiled after Tongi won season 21 of American Idol. “Seeing You” hit number one on the Billboard Rock Digital Songs Sales chart soon after its release. Tongi made an immediate impression on Idol viewers with his audition of James Blunt‘s emotional ballad, “Monsters.”
“[We] wrote this incredibly raw song when I realized that potentially my father could die soon,” Blunt explains to American Songwriter about the meaning of the song. “I’m a married man now, I have children, and when you have children, you start to see the whole circle of life.
“In many ways, the song, the lyric, it speaks as if I was speaking the words that I might have said to my children as well,” he adds. “When my children talk about the monsters, that’s [what] I sing to my father. It’s my turn to chase the monsters away like he would have done once with me.”
Photo: YouTube
