This season of American Idol is winding down to its final episodes. On Sunday night (May 14), the judges – Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie – narrowed down their legion of promising singers to just three: Colin Stough, Iam Tongi, and Megan Danielle.
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The latest episode in the series saw each of the contestants take on a Disney song in honor of ABC’s parent company. Before each of the performers got to play out their prince or princess fantasy though, Sara Bareilles came out with the top five to sing the iconic “When You Wish Upon A Star.”
What song could be better for the life-changing competition show? When you wish upon a star / Makes no difference who you are / Anything your heart desires / Will come to you, Bareilles sang with her incomparable vocals.
Towards the end of the number, Stough, Tongi, Danielle, Wé Ani, and Zachariah Smith joined Bareilles on stage, rounding out the performance with stunning harmonies.
Check out the group performance, below.
Each of the remaining contestants delivered powerhouse performances to secure their spot in the top 3.
Danielle, a 21-year-old from Douglasville, Georgia, took on “You Can’t Stop The Girl” from the 2019 Disney film Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and “Carried Me With You” from the 2020 film Onward.
“You know what you pray for in this business is a thing called ‘instant identity,” Richie told Danielle. “Which means 15 nanoseconds into the first time you open your mouth we know who you are.”
Tongi, a longtime fan favorite, performed moving renditions of Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ song “Father and Son” and “Lava” from the Disney short of the same name. The prior performance was the latest in a long line of tributes to his late father.
“You have to understand something, something we’ve experienced,” Richie said. “There’s a moment in time in your life when magic happens. And my friend, this is magical for you, because this is a time when all the stars align. It’s really happening.”
Stough secured his spot with performances of “Real Down” from Cars and “Nobody Knows” from Pete’s Dragon.
“I feel like you were giving everybody their own special performance,” Perry told Stough. “You drew us so in. It was like you could hear a pin drop.”
Photo: (ABC/Eric McCandless)
