American Idol Season 21 fan-favorite Iam Tongi won hearts and appreciation last night when he was crowned the Season 21 winner of the hit singing competition show.
His finale was breathtaking, and it was no surprise when he was awarded the winner.
A few main things known about Iam are that he’s 18, talented, and from Hawaii.
Plus, of course, we know now that he’s the American Idol Season 21 winner, which is no small feat.
His performance of Monster by James Blunt moved judges and fans to tears, but there’s more to this young man than just being able to bring people to tears musically.
Keep reading to find out everything to know about Iam Tongi, including where to follow his journey now.
Iam has an inspiring story
Iam is an incredibly young Idol winner, but we have to say, we think he deserves every ounce of recognition he gets.
Iam is from Kahuka, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, but moved to Seattle a few years ago.
Fortunately, he was able to do a hometown visit, but he noted that he was “priced out” of his native Hawaii.
Not only has he moved recently, but he had another major life event: His father passed away only months before his American Idol audition.
Iam says that his dad is the whole reason he got into music, and many of his performances were tributes to his father.
As if that weren’t enough going on, Iam is still a high school student! He attends school in Federal Way, Washington, and it seems that he’ll be finishing before he gets too professional. (You’re already a pro in our hearts, Iam!)
Iam Tongi is a social media sensation — Here’s where to follow him
Along with his pro music skills, Iam is somewhat of a social media sensation.
Following his audition, his follower count online skyrocketed! He uses Instagram, where he boasts over 200,000 followers, and Tiktok, where he has over 336,000 followers and over a million likes.
He uses the username wtongi on both platforms, and his TikTok page can be found here.
As far as his next steps, we’ll have to wait and see what exactly this star singer plans to do — but we know he loves performing.
“I just want to play concerts and live performances because I really love performing live,” he told HollywoodLife. “It just feels good when I’m on that stage and the lights and I just close my eyes and get into that feel. When other people witness that and also can connect to it’s just crazy.”
American Idol is currently on hiatus.