Season 21 of American Idol is one of the most emotional in series history, and if you’ve got friends who are watching the show tonight, you might want to check in with them after the performance we just watched between Iam Tongi and James Blunt.
Tongi’s journey through the American Idol sphere is something that has been a profoundly moving experience, and it’s a walk he’s dedicated to the memory and legacy of his late father, Rodney. From the very first time we got to see Tongi as he spoke about his father, showing up to his audition with his dad’s guitar, we knew we were in for something moving.
Moving seemed a massive understatement for what we soon saw, and Tongi had a full circle moment as he took the American Idol stage during the season 21 finale to sing “Monsters” once more — this time alongside the legendary singer who first made audiences everywhere cry with the song in 2019.
That’s right — if you thought Tongi’s audition was emotional, his final duet performance on the Idol stage took it to the next level. As someone who watches American Idol from the beginning to the end of each season, I feel confident saying that we’ve never seen something this vulnerable out of a contestant before, and we’ve never seen this much heartache and honor displayed with so much pride and love.
Blunt felt the depth of Tongi’s emotions, too, as he touched his arm when Tongi became too emotional to belt out the lyrics, assuring him that he understood and that they’d help one another get through the heartwrenching tune.
Anyone who knows Blunt’s music knows that Monsters is a track that the singer and songwriter wrote about his father’s struggle with a chronic illness. In a way, it was preparing him to say goodbye if the time came, as he explained to Good Morning Britain:
Really that has been an amazing moment. Because when you realise your father’s mortality it’s a great opportunity to say the things I’d like to say to him. So I have written a song called Monsters for him.
Blunt’s father received a kidney, and the two have been able to spend more time together in the years after he penned the song, but “Monsters” gave him the blank page on which to write a love letter to the man who helped raise him, and now they’ve had time to build a deeper bond and connection.
So when Tongi sings “Monsters,” a song about the final farewell to the most important man in your life, the emotion there is raw, vulnerable, and authentic. Seeing the two powerhouse singers take the stage together was enough to leave everyone in tears, both in the audience and at home. When the camera panned to the judges, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie were all in tears — moved by Tongi’s sensitivity. Even guest singer Jelly Roll couldn’t contain his emotions as he sat next to Tongi’s mother as they watched the moving performance.
We can’t think of a better end to this chapter of Tongi’s journey than by spending it with James Blunt, and we’ll forever be moved by their rendition of “Monsters.”
