‘American Idol’ Champ Iam Tongi Sings Garth Brooks’ “The Dance”

Iam Tongi wowed audiences throughout his American Idol run that led to him taking home the 2023 title. The 18-year-old’s ability to sing an array of song styles from any genre made him a crowd favorite.

But, it was Iam Tongi’s ability to deliver emotional performances that still has fans talking a month after his Idol win.

During the season finale, Tongi teamed up with James Blunt to sing “Monsters,” a song written by Blunt for his own father. Iam first sang the song for his Idol audition, sharing that he had lost his father two months prior. The moving cover had Iam fighting back tears and leaving judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan in tears.

Iam saw almost immediate success upon his Idol win as his first single, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Rock Digital Songs Sales chart. It also currently sits at No. 2 on the Digital Song Sales chart, proof that fans are anxiously awaiting more music from the new star.

While awaiting an album from Tongi, we discovered his YouTube channel that contains a number of duets with his late father and some covers recorded by the teen prior to appearing on American Idol. One such video is Iam singing Garth Brooks’ “The Dance” at a Mother’s Day program, per the video’s caption.

“The Dance” was released in 1990 as the final release from Garth Brooks’ self-titled debut album.

Written by Tony Arata, “The Dance” is now known as Brooks’ signature song. “‘The Dance’ will be the greatest success as a song we will ever do. I’ll go to my grave with ‘The Dance.’ It’ll probably always be my favorite song,” Garth once said.

We think Garth would be proud of the respect given the song by Iam Tongi. Tongi’s cover is one of the best we’ve heard and knowing his story and the impact his father had on his life makes this performance even more powerful.

Hear Iam Tongi sing “The Dance” in the video below.