Iam Tongi made a habit out of moving people to tears with his performances on American Idol. One such performance was that of “I’ll Be Seeing You,” which he performed during the finale as a final tribute to his late father before he was crowned the winner of season 21.
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It was a full circle moment, as Tongi auditioned with James Blunt’s “Monsters,” which was also in honor of his father who passed away in 2021. He touched the hearts of judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, as well as millions of Idol viewers during his performance. Learn the history of “I’ll Be Seeing You” below.
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Meaning Behind the Song
“I’ll Be Seeing You” was written by fellow American Idol alum Francisco Martin VI from season 18 and produced by Oak Felder. The heartfelt lyrics sound like they could’ve been written by Tongi as he emotively sings, All your wits/All of the laughs/Your grin/Stay in my heart/Stay in my mind/For all of time.
“It really resonated with me,” Tongi tells American Songwriter of Martin’s writing, calling him an “amazing writer.” “He listened to my story. I’ve gotta give thanks to him because he really touched my heart.”
The chorus opens with the lines, I’ll be seeing you/Seeing you wherever I go/I’ll be with you/Wherever I go, that Tongi compares to the start of a conversation. He says that whenever they drive past his dad’s favorite restaurant or even the place where he received dialysis treatment for kidney failure, he and his family acknowledge his presence.
“It’s almost like a conversation, I’m saying, ‘I’ll be seeing you wherever I go’ to my dad,” the recent high school graduate explains of the meaning. “Wherever we drive somewhere a place that my dad loved to go eat, we were like, ‘Hey look, that’s dad’s favorite place.’ Almost like [saying], ‘I’ll be with you wherever I go.’ Now [it’s] like my dad talking back to me now that he’s gone – no matter what happens, no matter where he goes, he’s gonna be with me in my heart, in my mind and through the memories.”
Tongi admits it was emotional performing “Seeing You” on Idol, the emotion starting to form even during rehearsals. But hearing fellow contestant Colin Stough rehearse his own song helped Tongi release his emotions. “During our rehearsal, I was trying not to cry because it’s such a beautiful song,” he shares. “It hit me and it really got me in the mindset of being sad. I was trying to get out of that, but when I sang it on the stage, I was just trying to close my eyes, feel it. On the stage, it felt really good to perform it.”
“I’ll Be Seeing You” marks Tongi’s first No. 1 song, as it topped the Billboard Rock Digital Songs Sales chart in May 2023.
Photo by: ABC/Eric McCandless
