American Idol winner Iam Tongi performs so
American Idol winner Iam Tongi dropped by Good Morning America on Thursday to urge viewers to help out those affected by the deadly and devastating fires that raged through Maui, Hawaii earlier this month.
Host Michael Strahan mentioned that Iam, the first Hawaiian and Pacific Islander to win American Idol, recently posted on social media, motivating his fans to help the recovery effort with donations and to “say prayers for Maui.”
On GMA, Iam sang the song he covered on social media, “Starting All Over Again.” Also, while Iam urged his fans to do their own research when it came to finding the right organizations to donate, GMA has put together a list of trusted charities to help out. Click HERE for the list.
Photos of well wishers holding signs of support accompanied the beautiful performance.
“I love you Maui and you’re always in my prayers”
Alongside the social media performance of “Starting All Over Again,” Iam wrote: “The devastating news of Maui hits harder than I can express… I have thought and rethought about ways I could help the people of Maui because I feel incapable seeing people donating so much money that I don’t have and talking with family members and watching videos of people helping each other has made me realize that there’s so much more way to help…”
The message continues, “If you’re donating money, any amount would help as long we try to make sure it’s going to the right hands… if you can’t donate money, we can look into other ways of donating whether it be clothing, food, time, etc… anyway, the only talent I have is music and wanted to dedicate this song by Mel and Tim sing by the great Bruddah Iz… I love you Maui and you’re always in my prayers.”
Iam announces that he and James Blunt will release a duet version of “Monsters”
After Iam auditioned for American Idol in front of the judges with an emotional cover of James Blunt’s “Monsters,” the song went viral and instantly established the 18 year old singer-songwriter as the contestant to beat.
Now, Iam and Blunt, are releasing an official duet of the track on August 25th. This, after the two sang an emotional version of the song on the American Idol finale.
Iam wrote on social media alongside the single’s cover art: “Safe to say this song changed my life. from covering it on tiktok 3 years ago, to singing it in my audition on @americanidol, to performing it at the Idol finale with @jamesblunt, this song means so much to me. I’m so excited to announce that James & I will be releasing an official duet of “Monsters” on August 25th.”
