Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Maddie Poppe is swarmed by fellow American Idol cast members after being named the winner of Season 16 (ABC Photo)

Maddie Poppe was 17 and admits she was despondent.

She’d auditioned for Season 10 of The Voice, failed to turn a chair and felt that she’d missed out on a big opportunity.

She went on to release a debut EP of songs she had written, but found herself in college, writing songs and working on booking gigs when she should have been studying.

And the 20-year-old from Clarksville, Iowa, wondered about her next step in music.

You might say she found it. Monday night she was crowned the Season 16 American Idol.

“Life can change so much because of one audition,” she said during the show.

Indeed. Even if that audition involves singing “Rainbow Connection” from “The Muppet Movie.”

But the Idol judges said yes two years after the The Voice coaches wouldn’t turn.

And Maddie staked her claim on the Idol title during Sunday night’s performance finale with a trio of solid performances, singing “Don’t Ever Let Your Children Grow Up” from her debut EP, “Landslide” as her hometown dedication and her new single “Going Going Gone.”

It was easily the night’s best trio of performances, and fans recognized it.

Maddie’s single, “Going Going Gone” soared from 70 to 30 on the iTunes Top 200 Monday, foreshadowing the victory she would celebrate hours later.

When the confetti fell, she was flanked by runner-up Caleb Lee Hutchinson, who she just happens to be dating.

Gabby Barrett, Idol’s season long favorite, finished third.