American Idol's Iam Tongi Addresses Controversy Over His 'Rigged' Win!

perezhilton.com:

Iam Tongi is addressing all the controversy over his American Idol win. If you keep up with the reality TV singing competition, you probably know that season 21 just wrapped, crowning the 18-year-old Hawaii native victorious.

However, America wasn’t exactly on the same page when it came to their response… Related: Katy Perry Got The King & Queen To Do An Awkward Idol Cameo After Coronation! We reported Monday that following Iam’s win, fans of the show were pretty split down the middle.

Many took to Twitter to share their support, but some others did quite the opposite, claiming the results were “rigged” in his favor as a “sympathy vote,” sharing that fellow contestant Colin Stough was actually more deserving: Now, the victor is addressing his contested win head on.

In a Thursday interview with DailyMail.com, the vocalist shared that he actually has a guilty “love” for all the drama: He cited his late father, Rodney Tongi, prepared him for this sort of feedback before his passing in 2021: Wise words!