Iam Tongi’s American Idol 2023 winning moment, Megan Danielle second: Watch video

Iam Tongi, an 18-year-old from Hawaii, is the winner of American Idol Season 21! He was crowned the winner following a nail-biting three-hour finale on Sunday. Megan Danielle, a 20-year-old singer from Georgia, came close second.

A look at the winning moment –

Iam performed his original song “I’ll Be Seeing You” during the finale. He also sang “Don’t Let Go” after being crowned the winner.

Tongi impressed the judges by dedicating the song “Monsters” to his father during the audition. His father died a couple of months before his audition.

“I was not worried about whether you were going to make it through the song, I was worried about whether we were going to make it through the song. Your daddy is very proud,” judge Lionel Richie said at the time.

Luke Bryan added, “I cannot handle your heart breaking about your dad because my nephew lost his dad and he came to live with me and just seeing you missing your dad sucks. Gosh man, you’ve got a great voice. You did everything perfectly and I love you and want to see you have fun.”

His performance won the golden ticket to be on the show.

Ahead of the finale, Tongi released a song titled “I’ll Be Seeing You,” dedicated to his father.

He thanked his fans after securing a spot in the top five.

“To all the faithful fans, I can’t thank you enough for all the love and support you all have shown. Thank you to the best supporters ever!” Tongi tweeted on May 10.