Tristen Gressett covered an iconic song by The Rolling Stones on American Idol Monday evening and his performance earned a massive standing ovation.
When given the task to choose from three songs that the Idol judges handpicked for him, including The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It, Black” and Queen’s “I Want It All,” Gressett chose the Rock N’ Roll classic, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Ahead of his performance, while chatting with Idol’s associate musical director, Justin Avery, and Idol’s vocal coach, Antonio Sol, Gressett shared why he chose The Rolling Stones’ hit.
After receiving a surprise video from Adam Lambert, who is the current frontman of Queen, Gressett wanted to impress him even more and his first song choice was Queen’s “I Want It All,” however, while he admitted that it is a “really good song,” he didn’t want to choose the track for his performance as he “don’t know it all that well.”
“When I was little and I would see something crazy in a store or there was something ridiculous that I wanted to do, sing, I said you can’t always get what you want,” Gressett explained. “I literally thought she had made up the song, I thought it was fake and then I heard it and was just literally shocked. My mind was blown.”
Sol told Gressett that the song is the “perfect choice” for him as it’s right down his lane.
Donning an all black sparkly ensemble, Gressett put his showmanship skills on full display while belting out the lyrics to The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” He delivered a show-stopping set that had jaws dropping as he showcased his newfound confidence and stage presence.
Following his performance of the iconic rock hit, which earned a standing ovation from the live audience, his mom and the Idol judges, host Ryan Seacrest challenged him to guess which Idol judge picked the song for him to perform.
“Lionel [Richie] 100%,” Gressett guessed, before adding, “I feel it!”
He chose the correct judge, and Richie was so excited he leaped out of his chair.
“He gave me Mick Jagger on steroids baby!” Richie gushed. “Seriously, the only thing I want to say is you need to go to a Doctor right now to get your knees fixed because I know they’re broken, both knees are broken. That was an amazing performance, as always you have the show-stopping performance, unbelievable.”
“Listen bro, like, that is electricity in a bottle and I’m sorry to say, but none of the other contestants are doing a quarter of that and I think that’s a good thing,” Katy Perry said. “It was amazing!”
“Your whole deal works for what you are and then you throw a cape on and you coordinate it in,” Luke Bryan praised the contestant. “It was like rhythmic gymnastics with your cape, but way to get out here and have fun and get eyeballs. Showbiz is about eyeballs watching too, people listen with their eyes.”
The record-breaking 19 million votes cast for the Top 10 revealed that Gressett ultimately didn’t advance to the next round.
Gressett then had to say a bittersweet goodbye to his fellow Idol hopefuls and the judges who adored him.
American Idol airs every Sunday and Monday at 8/7c on ABC.
