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Despite his family being \u201cpriced out of paradise,\u201d Kahuku native Iam Tongi has found a new home on the show American Idol, where he\u2019s capturing the hearts \u2014 and votes \u2014 of millions.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n For the past few months, Iam Tongi of Kahuku has been captivating audiences around the world with his performances on American Idol<\/em>.<\/p>\n Video of his audition, titled \u201cIam Tongi Makes The Judges Cry With His Emotional Story and Song,\u201d has reportedly become the most viewed audition ever on American Idol<\/em>\u2019s YouTube page, with more than 15.5 million views since it was first posted in February.<\/p>\n Tongi beams with pride after being praised for his voice and delivery by the show\u2019s judges.<\/p><\/div>\n And to think, that audition almost didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n \u201cI was supposed to go to Vegas (to audition), but then I got COVID,\u201d explains Tongi. \u201cI thought it was over. I was crying, but then my mom was talking to the lady, and she said, \u2018Oh, you can try out at the New Orleans one.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI was so excited, so I got up and went to New Orleans, but my mom couldn\u2019t go because she had to work, so I went with my uncle Manatau (Tuifua). He lives in Hawai\u2018i, but he flew up to take me.\u201d<\/p>\n Although his influences are many, Tongi is especially fond of artists George Strait and Lionel Richie \u2014 the latter a judge on the show American Idol.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n For his audition, Tongi covered Monsters<\/em> by James Blunt, a song he dedicated to his late father, Rodney. After his tear-jerker performance, judge Katy Perry described Tongi\u2019s voice as magnificent, Luke Bryan said it was great and that he did everything perfect, and Lionel Richie added, \u201cThe story is one thing, your delivery of your story was phenomenal. \u2026 Young man, you take this into the world and you\u2019re going to fracture some souls.\u201d<\/p>\n While all three judges agreed to send Tongi to the next round of the competition in Hollywood, this wasn\u2019t his first time trying out for the long-running TV singing competition, which is in its 21st season.<\/p>\n The Kahuku native delivers another stirring performance during an American Idol<\/em> show taped here in the islands.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI auditioned online the year before and I never made it and it kinda killed my confidence,\u201d reveals the 18-year-old high school senior. \u201cBut my mom signed me up and the rest is history. Now, I\u2019m in the top 5 (as of press time last Friday).\u201d<\/p>\n This past Sunday, the top 3 finalists were announced during American Idol<\/em>\u2019s live coast-to-coast show on ABC, and locally, arrangements were already underway for a parade through Kahuku and a Hometown Hero concert that is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 16 at Turtle Bay Resort, with a film crew from American Idol<\/em> covering the event if Tongi was to make it to the next round.<\/p>\n Tongi (second from left) poses with fellow contestants and judges, from left, Zachariah Smith, Oliver Steele, We Ani, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Haven Madison, Colin Stough, Megan Danielle and Warren Peay.<\/p><\/div>\n Week after week, Tongi has continued to hypnotize viewers with his epic performances, including a moving rendition of I Can\u2019t Make You Love Me<\/em> by Bonnie Raitt and beautiful cover of Bring it On Home to Me<\/em> by Sam Cooke that received thunderous applause.<\/p>\n \u201cI had no idea this was gonna happen, but I\u2019m glad I touched so many people,\u201d says Tongi. \u201cAnd when people chant my name, it just makes me feel like this is unreal and I\u2019m so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n Born William Guy Tongi and raised in Kahuku, he attended L\u0101\u2018ie and Kahuku elementary schools, and Kahuku High & Intermediate School before moving to Seattle a few years ago because, as he explained on the show, they were \u201cpriced out of paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy favorite memories growing up was walking down to Kahuku Famous Shrimp and all of us were like, \u2019cause we never had much money as kids we were all broke, someone would bring $5 and someone would bring $2 and we would go down to Kahuku Famous Shrimp and get $1 garlic rice,\u201d remembers Tongi. \u201cWe would just sit there and just eat the garlic rice and jam out, and that\u2019s one of my favorite memories.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the things he misses most about Hawai\u2018i, he lists family (he has \u201cat least a couple hundred cousins\u201d), the food and the beach.<\/p>\n \u201c(My favorite restaurant is) Da Bald Guy \u2014 they\u2019re so good,\u201d says Tongi. \u201cIt\u2019s the best breakfast on the whole island. It\u2019s a little food truck by the sugar mill in Kahuku.<\/p>\n \u201cOh man, I get the kalbi, it\u2019s boneless kalbi with eggs and stuff, it\u2019s so good. We also like to get the shrimp and they have the best mac salad I ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to singing, Tongi says he also loves to cook (he enjoys making shoyu chicken, fried rice, pork chops and steak) and draw.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd, I love to call my family and irritate them,\u201d laughs Tongi, the youngest of five children.<\/p>\n He credits his dad, who was an electrician, for teaching him to sing. He was in the fifth grade at the time, which is also when he learned to play the \u2018ukulele, and remembers his dad really pushing him to make it a career. Sadly, his mom, Lillie, shared on the show that his dad got sick a couple of years ago and had to go through dialysis. Music was how they bonded, and Tongi admits it\u2019s been hard since his dad\u2019s passing. He notes the tears when he sings come from hearing his dad\u2019s harmony. However, with some encouragement from his family, and a determination to make his dad proud, he decided to take his music seriously.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it feels awesome to see Iam be able to reach so many people,\u201d says mom Lillie. \u201cThis is something his dad always told him that that was his ability or his magic was to get people to believe him when he\u2019s singing or to touch their souls, and to see him believe in himself now with American Idol<\/em> helping him with that confidence, it\u2019s been magical.<\/p>\n \u201cI think something I would want to put out for everybody is you\u2019re in charge of your future, don\u2019t let anyone tell you otherwise. Shoot for it and just give it your best.\u201d<\/p>\n Each week, before taking the stage, Tongi shares that he has a ritual of sitting down and singing a song called Teu Hiki A Hoku Leo<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a Tongan gospel song that me and my dad used to sing together all the time,\u201d explains Tongi, who is of Tongan, Samoan and Irish ancestry. \u201cIt kind of gets the nerves out and gets the feels in and brings out emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking ahead, Tongi says he wants to record a lot of singles and perform at live concerts. Among his favorite artists, he lists Josh Tatofi, Josh WaWa White, Fiji, Allen Stone and Teddy Swims.<\/p>\n \u201cI love a lot of artists,\u201d he says. \u201cMy favorite artists of all time is probably George Strait and Lionel Richie. Lionel Richie was my dad\u2019s favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout his journey on American Idol<\/em>, Tongi says the best part has been making new friends along the way, hanging out with them and just \u201cjamming out and having fun.\u201d So, naturally, the hardest part has been saying goodbye to some of them as contestants get eliminated each week.<\/p>\n He also knows that American Idol<\/em> is his \u201cchance to be something more.\u201d But, at this point, it\u2019s already changed his life and many others, too.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dream is just to continue to touch people\u2019s heart and make them feel the music and see what I\u2019m trying to put out there,\u201d says Tongi.<\/p>\n When MidWeek<\/em> asks if he\u2019s already enjoying the dream life, he responds, \u201cYeah. I\u2019m living it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite his family being \u201cpriced out of paradise,\u201d Kahuku native Iam Tongi has found a new home on the show..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-story"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekhawaii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/165665_0353-1.jpg\")
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