Iam Tongi most viewed audition ever on American Idol platform

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Iam Tongi from Kahuku is currently American Idol’s most viewed audition on the hit singing competition’s YouTube page.

The video titled “Iam Tongi Makes The Judges Cry With His Emotional Story And Song – American Idol 2023” generated over 13 million views on the platform.

The second most viewed video had over 6 million views from an audition about five years ago.

To view Tongi’s audition click here — but be aware the performance had judges tearing up and could do the same to you too.

The performance was in the Season 21 premiere of the show on Feb. 19.

Tongi dedicated his cover of Monsters by James Blunt to his father who recently passed away. The heartfelt performance not only earned him his golden ticket to Hollywood but a standing ovation from judges.

During his introduction, the 18-year-old explained his connection to Hawaii and being raised in Kahuku before moving to Seattle, Washington a few years back.

When asked in the video why he moved Tongi replied, “priced out of paradise and — got to move to a cheaper state.”

“We’ll fix it to get you priced back in Hawaii,” said Country singer Luke Bryan, one of the three judges.

Fast forward to April 16 and Tongi had his Hawaii homecoming to perform as one of the top 26 contestants.

Two episodes of the top 26 were filmed at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Kapolei.

His performance aired on Sunday night is also trending as the most popular video shared on American Idol’s Facebook page.

On that night, he sang and played his guitar to Don’t Let Go by Spawnbreezie.

To find out if Tongi will advance in the competition, American Idol says on its website, the showtimes are Sundays and Mondays.