“American Idol” winner Iam Tongi apologized after he forgot to remove his hat while singing the national anthem.
Tongi took the sector for the special moment on Monday on the 2023 MLB Home Run Derby at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. The musician won the twenty first season of “American Idol” in May.
“First try at singing the National Anthem. So nervous that it was in front of such an enormous crowd. And apologize for being so nervous and forgot to take off the hat,” Tongi wrote in the outline of a video uploaded to YouTube.
Tongi also addressed the moment on Twitter writing, “Tens of 1000’s of individuals. I walk out and my uncle jogs my memory to remove my hat before I start singing. I remember. A couple of seconds later the nerves took in and didn’t remember until it was all done. I’ll attempt to do higher next time.”
Fans shared support for Tongi within the comments, despite the snafu.
“Much respect in your response,” one user wrote. “More vital is you probably did such an incredible job on the song itself. Great job. Congrats to your accomplishments! You deserve all of it. Go get em bro.”
“You were nervous,” he added. “But you probably did awesome. Adore it.”
“Your rendition was inspiring and delightful. For those who are nervous (in the long run) just have any person grab the hat, adjust your outfit. Keep your head high!” one other noted.
“That’s okay,” one user encouraged. “Nerves can get to anyone, at the least you remembered the words!”
For the finals on “American Idol,” Tongi was up against Megan Danielle and Colin Stough.
Despite the competition, Tongi built a friendship with each of his fellow competitors.
“Truthfully, if it wasn’t for these guys and all my family and our friends, I might… I don’t know if I might stay humble because these guys taught me day by day that I’m useless — I’m just kidding,” Tongi previously told People magazine. “Truthfully, we laugh quite a bit.”
After his win, Tongi received backlash from viewers who thought the competition was “rigged.” Many claimed the musician only won due to his “sob story.” The contestant’s father passed away in 2021 and Tongi often referenced his father and used his guitar during performances.
“Plenty of persons are like, ‘Colin Stough was robbed, or whatever. And I just like it,’” Tongi told DailyMail.com.
“‘I similar to [the comments], whatever what they are saying, ’cause , [I gotta] let those things occur. I’m guilty for liking it,” Tongi explained, referring to pressing ‘like’ on a comment via social media. “But look, [my] music’s not for everybody. And I even have to learn that the hard way.’”
