“American Idol” announced the winner on Monday, May 21st in part two of the season finale. The Top 3 finalists were Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Maddie Poppe and Gabby Barrett.
Maddie Poppe was announced as the winner. Caleb Lee Hutchinson was the first runner up and Gabby Barrett was the second runner up.
Poppe, 20 is from Clarksville, Iowa. The singer songwriter shined each week starting from her audition. Each week she put her spin on a variety of songs playing her guitar or piano making her the dark horse of the season.
Hutchinson who was the first runner up announced to the audience right before the winner was announced that he and Poppe are dating. The judges said that they did not know backstage after the show. Several of the Top 10 contestants said they knew and were happy for the two for the success on the show and in their relationship.
Barrett who finished as the second runner up told TVMusic Network backstage that she has some plans to announce soon. However, she did let us know that in addition to the “American Idol” live summer tour that she would be performing on judge Luke Bryan’s show when his tour comes to her home state of Pennsylvania.
The Grand Finale included performances by “American Idol” judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.
Additional Performances included artists Bebe Rexha, Darius Rucker, Gary Clark Jr., Kermit the Frog, Nick Jonas + Mustard, Patti LaBelle, Yolanda Adams and the “American Idol” Contestants.
Performances during the grand finale included:
Bebe Rexha + Top 3 Finalists – “Meant to Be” by Bebe Rexha
Darius Rucker + Caleb Lee Hutchinson – “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Rucker
Gary Clark Jr. + Dennis Lorenzo + Cade Foehner – “Bright Lights” by Gary Clark Jr.
Katy Perry + Catie Turner – “Part of Me” by Katy Perry
Kermit the Frog + Maddie Poppe – “Rainbow Connection” from “The Muppet Movie”
Layla and Dyxie Spring – “Blue” by LeAnn Rimes
Lionel Richie + Top 10 Finalists – “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie
Luke Bryan – “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” by Luke Bryan
Luke Bryan + Gabby Barrett – “Most People Are Good” by Luke Bryan
Nick Jonas + Mustard – “Anywhere” by Nick Jonas and Mustard
Nick Jonas + Jurnee – “Jealous” by Nick Jonas
Patti LaBelle + Ada Vox – “Lady Marmalade” by Patti LaBelle
Yolanda Adams with a choir of voices + Michael J. Woodard – “What the World Needs Now”
Top 2 Finalists – “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What A Wonderful World”
Maddie Poppe the winner of Season 1 of “American Idol” on ABC performed her new single.
After a press tour, Poppe will perform at The Radio Disney Awards on June 23 before joining The American Idol summer live tour which kicks off on July 11 in Redding, California. The top 7 will be on the tour along with American Idol Season 8 winner Kris Allen.
Check out some video highlights from the finale.
