The American Idol Top 7 will all drop original singles on Friday May 13, helmed by top notch producers. While quarantining and convalescing from COVID-19, Top 5 contestants Fritz Hager and Noah Thompson tease their upcoming tracks on social media. They also spoke with the press about their experience battling COVID.
Fritz Hager’s “Hearts Align” listen to a snip produced by King Henry
Fritz’s song is titled “Hearts Align.” He told Billboard in a recent interview: “It’s my second time being in a studio. My first time, I was a teen. And coming from Texas, I worked with country artists and now the producer I’m working with is King Henry. We are two people who have the same sounds in mind. For my first EP, there was almost a language barrier because it was like working in two different mediums, so being able to work with King Henry and how our conversation flowed was really cool.”
King Henry interned for DJ and producer Diplo before writing and producing alongside Diplo for artists such as Major Lazer. He has also produced for Maroon 5, James Arthur, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Charli XCX, Mark Ronson, The Weeknd, Sting and more.
Fans can pre-save the singles now.
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Listen to a snip of the “Hearts Align” below.
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Noah Thompson’s “One Day Tonight” produced by award winner Jimmy Robbins
Noah’s song is titled “One Day Tonight.” He wrote on social media “Hope y’all are as pumped as I am.
“I have never ever in my life done anything like that,” Noah told Billboard. “Being in the studio working in the sound booth was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my life. I had so much fun because I didn’t know how any of that stuff worked, so it was all new to me. It seemed surreal that I was in there working with Jimmy Robbins as my producer. He’s such a good guy. He’s a great dude with a first-rate sense of humor and we connected through the song and through music and I had a great time doing that. It was all I thought it would be. I loved it.”
Jimmy Robbins has penned 10 No. 1 singles. In 2014, he won a CMA Triple Play award for having three No. 1 songs in a twelve month period. He produced “The Bones” for Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett’s “It Goes Like This,” “Half of My Hometown” by Kelsea Ballerini and more from artists such as Mickey Guyton, Raelynn and Trent Harmon.
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Listen to a snip on “One Day Tonight” below
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Noah and Fritz on missing Sunday’s Live show
Noah and Fritz both tested positive for COVID prior to Sunday’s live episode (Read our Recap). Noah tested positive a few days before the show. He performed his two songs from his hotel room. Fritz didn’t test positive until Sunday morning, allowing Idol to air his dress rehearsal during the live show.
“I feel like crap,” Noah told Billboard about how he was feeling after testing positive for COVID-19. “But Idol is doing a great job. They’re setting us up with some great treatments.”
Fritz told Clark Beckham for his podcast that he “totally” held back during his dress rehearsal performance
On his Idol podcast, American Idol alum Clark Beckham wondered if Fritz actually gave his all during dress rehearsal, recounting vocal coaches who warned him to save “the sauce” for the final performance. He reached out to Fritz, and indeed, the singer held back. “Oh totally,” he told Clark, saying that he would have brought “a lot more energy” to both performances. He said he would have probably been “crying” for the Mother’s Day song, and would have been “way higher energy” for the song before it. Fritz sang two original songs, the high energy pop tune “All My Friends,” and the sentimental “The Ocean.”
“They filmed my rehearsals from before I got my positive result back and my throat was already getting kind of weird at that point,” Fritz told People magazine after the show. There’s something about being in that studio with that crowd that really just elevates performances. And I was really, really nervous. Going up against the other contestants who are in the room … it’s so daunting to have my fate sealed for me yesterday, and then just waiting to see how it plays out.”
Noah who sang “Painted Blue and “Landslide” said singing while feeling horrible was a matter of pushing through his pain.
Trip to Las Vegas to work with Carrie Underwood still up in the air
On Sunday, Noah “woke up with probably … I’ve never had such a sore throat my entire life. It was killing me,” he told People. “I was just trying to push through it. I honestly can’t believe I made it through because it was hurting that bad. I was having such problems with it. I’m just glad it worked out.”
The Top 5 are scheduled to travel to Resorts World in Las Vegas where season 4 winner Carrie Underwood is kicking off another leg of her residency. She’ll mentor the contestants. But whether Fritz and Noah will be well enough to travel, remains to be determined.
