Iam Tongi wows the judges and fans alike each time he steps on the American Idol stage. “Your voice is like butter,” Katy Perry told Tongi during his homecoming performance. “Your voice is vacation. You just put everybody in the mood.”
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The 18-year-old continued that reputation with his performance on the Sunday night (April 23) episode of Idol, putting a breezy twist on ABBA’s break-up anthem, “The Winner Takes It All.”
Tongi has dedicated every performance on Idol so far to his late father, who also acted as a musical mentor. Prior to his performance of “The Winner Takes It All,” Tongi commented on the overwhelming support he’s had from viewers who are in similar situations.
“I not only help them, but they help me because I’m still grieving,” Tongi said. “It’s hard for me to express myself and I can’t really explain things well, but when I sing it is so easy to express myself.”
Express himself he did on Sunday night. Tongi has a preciousness to his voice—one that caused a hushed silence to fall over the Idol crowd (save a few encouraging yells) as he sang out: The winner takes it all / The loser’s standing small/ Beside the victory / That’s her destiny.
Immediately after Tongi hit his final note, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. “I had a lot to say, ” Lionel Richie commented. “But, they actually said it for me.”
Perry added, “I guess this is called the Iam Tongi show now. Can you believe what you’ve done? You’re 18. Your voice is timeless. What you’re giving us is transcending everything and it’s hitting everyone. It doesn’t matter how old or young they are. Watching you become a star, feels like I’m watching a Disney movie.”
The crowd clapped along in agreement before Luke Bryan summed up Tongi’s talents succinctly: “God gave you the magic buddy—enjoy it.”
The performance ultimately earned Tongi a place in the Top 20 contestants. Check it out, below.
Tongi’s past performances include a moving rendition of James Blunt’s “Monsters,” Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.”
Photo by ABC/Eric McCandless
