American Idol returns for its 21st season Sunday night, introducing us to 10 Hollywood-bound singers.
There were tears, of course, most produced by a pair of heartfelt performances.
But the premiere also featured a dancing pet bird named Mango, a guest appearance from Lauren Daigle and a pair of talented lads from Armory, Mississippi, a town of about 6,500 in northeastern Mississippi.
Here are my picks for the top five auditions of the night.
1. Haven Madison, 16, Clarkesville, Tenn.: Confession: After 16 years of blogging it takes a bit for me to get pumped up for another spring of American Idol. One thing that heightened my enthusiasm for Season 21 was discovering Haven’s original song “15” when I started researching contestants about a month ago. It’s flat-out hit worthy. And while Haven might have tried to do a bit too much vocally on the acoustic version of the song at her audition, she was also the only contestant we met Sunday who tried out with an original. And the secret to post-Idol success isn’t singing cover. Oh, did I mention “15” has already been released, along with a music video. STREAM THIS SONG!
2. William Tongi, 18, Kahuku, Hawaii: Speaking of emotional performances, Tongi dedicated his audition to his father Rodney, who died in late 2021 and had long wanted his song to try out for American Idol. Tongi was tearing up even before he began his cover of “Monsters” by James Blunt. By the end of his audition, he had all the judges tearing up as well. If you’re not familiar with the song, suffice to say it was perfect for the moment. And Tongi delivered a lovely, heartfelt rendition. It was my favorite vocal performance of the night by a teen blessed with a lovely tone.
3. Tyson Venegas, 17, Vancouver, British Columbia: The most impressive pure vocal of the night came from this teen, a veteran of The Voice Teens in the Philippines back when he was 14. He covered Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” with nuance well beyond his years. Katy got goosebumps. Lionel called in Tyson’s mom to verify that her son is only 17. And the judges awarded Tyson with the only platinum ticket they handed out at the Las Vegas auditions. That will give Tyson a leg up on the competition when he arrives at Hollywood Week.
4. Kya Monee’, 21, Austin, Texas: She delivered tons of emotion and displayed an amazing amount of vocal firepower, auditioning with “I’m Here” from The Color Purple.” The emotion? That stemmed from her close friendship with Willie Spence, her duet partner in Hollywood Week on Season 19. Kya was cut prior to the semifinals; Willie wound up finishing second, but died in a car crash last year. He’s the one who encouraged Kya to try Idol again. He even helped select her audition song and had promised to accompany her to the audition. I’m thinking we’ll see a lot more of Kya in Season 21 than we did back in Season 19.
4. Colin Stough, 18, Amory, Mississippi: Watch out for this guy, because he’s sneaky good. He displayed a nice tone, a bit of rasp and more vocal firepower than I expected on his cover of “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. His humble, country demeanor is likely to strike a chord with viewers. It also reminded me a lot of Season 20 champ Noah Thompson. And I thought Colin’s audition was more impressive vocally than Noah’s. Luke called Colin “what American Idol is about.” Katy said he has “stardust.”
Also earning golden tickets to Hollywood were former The Voice contestants Michael Williams and Megan Danielle, Lucy Love, Lyric Medeiros and Zachariah Smith, the other young man from Armoy. Here’s a photo gallery of the advancing singers.
Haven Madison auditions for American Idol Season 21 (ABC Photo)
William Tongi auditions for American Idol Season 21 (ABC Photo)
Tyson Venegas auditions for American Idol Season 21 (ABC Photo)
Kya Monee auditions for American Idol Season 21 (ABC Photo)
Colin Stough auditions for American Idol Season 21 (ABC Photo)
Lucy Love auditions for American Idol Season 21 (ABC Photo)
Lyric Medeiros auditions for American Idol Season 21 (ABC Photo)
Megan Danielle auditions for Season 21 of American Idol (ABC Photo)
Michael Williams auditions for Season 21 of American Idol (ABC Photo)
Zachariah Smith auditions for Season 21 of American Idol (ABC Photo)
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