In the hours after Sunday’s dramatic American Idol season finale, Hawaii politicos took to social media to celebrate the Hawaii-bred phenom Iam Tongi, whose local approval rating they can only dream of matching.
After weeks of cheerleading from Washington Place, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green posted on his official Facebook page a photo of him and the Season 21 winner from last week’s Iam Tongi Day event at Turtle Bay with the simple message, “Congratulations to Hawaii’s own American Idol.”
The 18-year-old singer, who grew up in Kahuku and now lives in Seattle, beat fellow finalists Megan Danielle and Colin Stough to take top honors in the storied TV talent competition.
Tongi, whose father Rodney died two years ago, was a complete unknown until his chicken-skin-inducing audition for the show — a rendition of the James Blunt song “Monsters” that he dedicated to his father and which left the show’s celebrity judges in tears — aired on Feb. 19.
The official YouTube video of the solo, acoustic performance immediately went viral and has since topped 16 million views, the most ever for an American Idol video.
Over the past three months, Tongi’s advance to the finals was met with enthusiasm by hometown fans in a rising of community support reminiscent of earlier "Idol" runs by Jasmine Trias and Camile Velasco, who finished third and eighth, respectively, in the show’s third season.
On Sunday’s finale, Tongi reprised the song as a duo with Blunt. He also sang his original song, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
Tongi’s victory prompted state Rep. Adrian Tam to tweet, “Chills right now. Congratulations.”
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi posted on the significance of Tongi’s win for his home state, which had turned out in force to vote for the performer.
“It is a proud day for Hawaii and all of the residents of Kahuku especially,” wrote Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi in a Facebook posting. “For Iam and his family this is a very special life changing event that he has proven he deserves with his tremendous talent and even bigger heart! Mahalo Iam… you have made us all so very proud!”
The state’s congressional delegation also chimed in.
“Congratulations Iam Tongi on your American Idol win!,” wrote U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda. “So much Windward pride right now, to have a Kahuku boy take his rightful place at the top of America’s biggest stage. You are an inspiration, you make us proud, and no matter where your [footprint emojis] may be, #YouAreHawaii”
From Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Ed Case posted photos of himself holding a tablet with a video of Tongi on its screen.
“Congrats, mahalo and aloha from Capitol Hill, Iam! Your Hawaii ohana are so proud of you wherever we are. #iamtongi”
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono congratulated Tongi for becoming Hawaii’s first-ever American Idol winner.
“Mahalo for using your voice to share our home and local music with millions across the country,” Hirono wrote on Facebook. “Hawaii is so proud of you!”
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz flashed an emoji shaka sign in his congratulatory tweet for Tongi.
As winner, Tongi received a $250,000 grand prize and a recording contract with Hollywood Records/19 Recordings.
By the next morning, the annual backlash from disappointed fans of the other finalists started, with complaints about the lengths to which Hawaii viewers went to support Tongi. The New York Post and other media also made note of Green’s unabashed lobbying for Tongi votes on his famed whiteboard.
But, locally at least, the celebration was just beginning.
In another Facebook post, former Gov. Ben Cayetano displayed a newspaper article heralding Tongi’s ascent.
“Bravo, Iam,” Cayetano write. “You make Hawaii proud.”
Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii.