Iam Tongi

Tongi auditioned for Season 20 of American Idol, but failed to get past the initial screening.[8] Without telling him, his mom then signed him up for the Season 21 auditions. Tongi, however, was reluctant to audition again, saying he had a bad attitude from the previous rejection and that he did not expect to advance beyond the audition round. This time, however, he was able to appear in front of Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan, the show's judges.[9]

During the audition, Tongi talked about having to move to Washington because he was "priced out of paradise". When asked about his father, Tongi became teary-eyed, explaining that Rodney, his dad, had passed away a few months before the audition, and that Rodney was the one who got him into music.[10] Tongi had not originally planned to talk about his dad because he did not want his journey to be seen as a sob story.[11]

Tongi's audition, a deeply touching rendition of James Blunt's song "Monsters", which he dedicated to his dad, earned him a standing ovation from all three judges and a unanimous vote to the next round.[12][13] The audition video quickly went viral, drawing 112,000 Instagram followers in the two days after Tongi's performance. Tongi's audition also became Idol's most-watched audition video on the show's YouTube channel, generating over 16 million views in three months.[10][11]

Tongi's greatest challenge on American Idol came during Hollywood Week, when his guitar broke and he lost his voice. When Tongi appeared before the judges, he started crying, explaining that he had promised his dad he would use the guitar on every performance.[14] Tongi later said he felt like it was a way of his dad telling him he could do it on his own, and he would appear in later rounds without his guitar.[9]

During Idol's season finale, Tongi teamed up with James Blunt to deliver an emotionally charged duet of Blunt's song "Monsters", the same song Tongi had used for his audition. The performance left the judges and audience in tears. Tongi himself broke down part way through the song but eventually regained his composure and finished. He told Rolling Stone,

"My dad always told me that I'm gonna make it one day and that he probably wouldn't be around to see me be successful. When I was on stage, I was crying because I was thinking about when he said that to me. He was hoping this for me since the beginning."[15]

Blunt said of the performance,

"I sang on American Idol with Iam Tongi, and actually he broke down in tears, and then you suddenly realize the desperation of that moment because poor him, his father had died. And really living that. And the poignancy in the next line is, ‘I’ll leave a light on, I’ll be the last one, and I’ll leave a light on / There’d be no darkness in your heart.’ [and] it’s a real moment where you can imagine the death of your closest relative, and it’s a really amazing moment to live it. In many ways, I think Iam and I really lived it on a stage together."[16]

Tongi's win left Idol fans divided, with some praising him while others criticized the show, saying he won on sympathy alone.[17] Runner-up Megan Danielle defended Tongi, saying, "Iam was deserving and he's so humble and so talented."[18] Tongi meanwhile said he approached the announcement of the winner with an open mind: "I didn't expect to make it this far. No matter [who won], I was going to be happy."[9]

Tongi's song choices during the competition included a remake of Hawaiian reggae group Kolohe Kai's song "Cool Down", which he performed during the finale. Hawaii recording artists and producers alike praised Tongi for bringing island music to a national stage. Roman De Peralta, Kolohe Kai's frontman, said:

"[The American Idol audience is] a demographic that we don't really get to share our culture, our island vibes with. I feel like [Tongi's song choices] really paved a beautiful way for us as artists to be in front of people we really never got to."[19]

Native Hawaiian recording artist Kimie Miner added:

"We don't see a lot of people like us being marketed in mainstream music. So what Iam was able to do by being on [American Idol] and having this platform is he showed everybody that there's a big desire for the kind of music we have here. It showed the world how AAPI artists are equally competitive in this music industry while we're still being true to our culture, representing our island life, heritage, and 'ohana."[20]

Tongi said he was grateful to be able to showcase the genre to Idol viewers:

"I wanted to represent the islands, and represent where I'm from, people in Hawaii... I just wanted to put island music on the map because island music is so beautiful, but a lot of people don't really know about it, only islanders."[20][21]

Tongi also said he hopes his journey encourages other Polynesians to pursue careers in music:

"A lot of Polynesians are way better than me and they’re just too scared to do stuff like this. It’s just the Polynesian way: you don’t want to embarrass yourself. There’s a lot of pride in our culture. We don’t want to look dumb or anything so we just tried to just stick to our own lane.”[15]

Shortly after winning Idol, Tongi embarked on a tour that saw him reunite with fellow contestant Oliver Steele, who finished in the Top 8 and with whom Tongi formed a special bond during the competition.[26] During the tour, while both Tongi and Steele were on Oahu, a local guitar maker gifted the duo custom made, matching ukuleles to symbolize their friendship.[27]

On July 1, 2023, at a concert at the Turtle Bay Resort, Tongi surprised the audience by inviting Roman De Peralta from Kolohe Kai to join him on stage to perform "Cool Down", the same song he showcased on Idol. The concert was their first time performing the song together. De Peralta said afterward, "He's coming home after an epic win, and I texted him, are you going to jam 'Cool Down' tomorrow? And he said yeah, and I said, ‘Can I join?’ and he was really stoked. I am honored to be here."[28]

On July 10, 2023, Tongi sang the national anthem at the 2023 Home Run Derby, but forgot to remove the baseball cap he was wearing before he sang. Tongi apologized on social media, attributing the faux pas to being nervous performing in front of such a large crowd.[29]

On August 12, 2023, Tongi released an Instagram video honoring the victims of the 2023 Maui wildfires. Encouraging his fans to donate, and expressing his love and support for the people of Maui, he sang a cover of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Starting All Over Again".[30]

On August 25, 2023, Tongi released a studio version of his duet with James Blunt of Blunt's song "Monsters". Tongi wrote on social media, "From covering it on TikTok 3 years ago to singing it in my audition on @americanidol, to performing it at the Idol finale with @jamesblunt , “Monsters” means so much to me."[16]