Iam Tongi performs Tuesday and Wednesday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. — Photo courtesy Iam Tongi
When “American Idol” winner Iam Tongi spent some time on Oahu after the Maui fires broke out, he wondered how he could help. So he recorded a moving, stripped-down version of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s classic “Starting All Over Again,” featuring his soulful singing and guitar playing, and just steel guitarist backing.
“I just wanted to do something,” Tongi explained during a call from Atlanta while on tour in October. “Everything had happened and I was there for about three days, and I kept wondering what I can do. Just me, a kid from Kahuku, not much to offer. I was wondering what to do and my uncle suggested ëStarting All Over Again’ would be a good song. I listened to it and I was like, this would be a perfect song. I just changed up the lyrics a little bit.”
Donating all the proceeds from the song to those impacted by the fires, Tongi posted on Facebook that “this song really touched me recently.”
Tongi was one of the entertainers on the Sept. 8 Maui Strong livestream benefit, and he and promoter Rick Bartalini will also donate a portion of the proceeds from the upcoming “YESSAH: Iam Tongi Returns to Hawaii” shows in Honolulu on Saturday and the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Tuesday and Wednesday to assist those impacted by the Maui fires.
Hailed by reviewers as “one of the show’s strongest victors ever,” Tongi made history when he amazed “American Idol” judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan with his heartfelt performances during Season 21, including an emotional cover of James Blunt’s “Monsters,” as a tribute to his recently deceased father. Bryan described Tongi’s talent as “a natural gift from God.”
“Why am I sitting here and tearing up on a song I already know'” Richie said after Tongi performed Keith Urban’s “Making Memories of Us.”
“Every time you come on and you sing, the vibration that comes out of your mouth, it goes through the weeds of people’s hearts and it just gets to them,” Perry marveled.
“I was really shocked,” Tongi recalled when his win was announced. “It didn’t feel real. In a way, it felt like it wasn’t happening. It was just unreal. I didn’t know how to react to it, because we’ve been like not practicing, but we’ve been preparing ourselves. It was just crazy. We’ve been preparing ourselves for what we need to do when that happens. But I had no clue I was going to win, to be honest.”
Tongi hadn’t even planned to audition — it was his mother who signed him up for the Idol contest.
“I had no clue,” he said. “She told me like a week before auditions. I told her I didn’t want to do it, but then she just asked me to do it. She said, ëCan you just do it for dad” I was like, alright.”
Tongi, who turned 19 in September, was the first person from Hawaii and the first non-country singer in three years to win the competition. Singing in front of the famous judges and millions of Americans watching on TV, he said it initially felt crazy.
“I got kind of got used to it, like the idea of it,” he said. “But when I look back at it now like there was millions of people watching, and it’s crazy man.”
Paying homage to Hawaii in his song choices, he performed Kolohe Kai’s “Cool Down” and “What a Wonderful World,” popularized in the islands by Iz.
“I just really wanted to stay true to myself,” he said. “I wanted to introduce other people to the music I grew up listening to. Also I did ëDon’t Let Go’ by Spawnbreezie. I just wanted to do stuff that I love so other people can hear it.”
For Tongi, it was special to represent Hawaii in the contest.
“It meant a lot to me because obviously I’m from Hawaii,” he said. “It meant a lot to me because I got to talk about what goes on over there.”
During one audition, he talked about being priced out of Hawaii. His family moved to Washington state in 2020. Since his win, he has thought about maybe coming home.
“I do want to come back and live in Hawaii again,” he said.
Life for the young musician “has been crazy” following his win.
“It’s just been on a roll all the time,” he said. “I just finished touring and had a private show in Bali. I had two shows in Australia and two shows in New Zealand, and I went to visit Tonga.”
Tongi, who began singing at a young age, says, “I liked singing from my dad.”
“He pushed me a lot,” Tongi recalled. “I remember I stopped wanting to play for a while. My dad sat down and he talked to me. ‘You need to practice more. You need to start doing better.’ I got back to it.”
He said he was surprised to discover that people loved his voice.
“I don’t know why, but I always thought my family was lying to me,” he said of his vocal talents. “I didn’t know if I was actually good until the people that are actually good told me that I’m good.”
In terms of musical influences growing up, he was exposed to a wide range.
“My dad listened to all kinds of music,” Tongi said. “He listened to a lot of country, listened to a lot of oldies like Dr. Hook. He listened to a lot of Luther Vandross. So I have a lot of different things that I love because of my dad.”
Following his Idol win, Tongi’s debut single, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” topped the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales chart. Currently working on an album of mostly original songs, he recently released the instantly catchy, island reggae-flavored “Why Kiki,” a play on Waikiki. The video was filmed on Oahu with Halau Hula ‘O Hokulani. It now has 3 million views on YouTube.
“It was so fun to make the video,” he said. “I listened to the song and I fell in love with it. I was like, this song is fire. It’s like a double meaning, Why Kiki and Waikiki. Actually, it’s like a triple meaning, to be honest.”
Tongi said he is looking forward to playing on Maui.
“I’m excited for that,” he said. “I like being in the moment, sharing the moment I’m in with other people. The way I sing, I try to get the crowd involved. But when I sing I’m almost in my own world. It’s just me and the music, and we’re just jamming.”
The “YESSAH: Iam Tongi Returns to Hawaii” tour is presented on Tuesday and Wednesday at the MACC. Tickets start at $64.75, plus applicable fees. Tickets are available online at mauiarts.org.
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