After making his way into the Top 7 on American Idol, Noah Thompson was ready for a chance to advance into the Top 5 with a performance of a viral TikTok hit on Idol on Sunday evening.
Ahead of his performance, the Kentucky native sat down with the show’s superstar mentor, Will.I.Am.
“Did you ever think you’d make it this far in the show?” Will.I.Am asked Thompson, to which he replied, “no not at all. My buddy literally signed me up for this show as a literal joke.”
“Sometimes jokes turn out to a whole bunch of truths,” the superstar mentor told him.
Thompson admitted that he’s not an avid social media user, so the decision to perform a song from TikTok did not come easy.
“I’m not very good with social media at all, Arthur’s not very good at it either, now this song that I’m playing is the song that he posted of me,” Thompson shared. ”Somebody actually commented on it and said I should sing it on Idol. I’m still learning how all that stuff works, I’m still not sure what hashtags are even for, I don’t even know.”
Will.I.Am complimented Thompson’s vocals during their mentoring session and also offered up some constructive criticism.
“What I liked about Noah is that you can tell he is singing for something, but when he sung it I didn’t believe it. Is there something in your life that connects with the sentiment of that song?” Will.I.Am asked.
“Yeah, I’ve had ups and downs,” Thompson replied, before Will.I.Am told him to emphasize the emotion within his performance.
Performing from his hotel room in California, Thompson sang Sundy Best’s viral TikTok tune “Painted Blue.”
His virtual performance earned a standing ovation from the Idol judges.
“Well done!” Lionel Richie shouted.
“Noah, so, American Idol is so good at finding stars. They’re stars whether they’re on the stage or they’re stars sitting in a hotel room with COVID. Great, great, great job. How are you feeling, you feeling okay?” Luke Bryan asked.
“Yeah, I’m getting by man, It kind of sucks. This is my first time getting COVID, so, I’m getting through it though,” Thompson revealed.
“Feel better and listen, for anybody here in the room, one of your best performances we’ve heard,” Bryan added as Katy Perry chimed in shouting “Yes!”
American Idol airs on Sundays and Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.
