Mississippi’s Zachariah Smith and Colin Stough impress judges, voters. Named in Top 5 of American Idol

Published 6:01 am Monday, May 8, 2023

Five singers are left in this year’s American Idol competition, and two of those singers are from Mississippi.

Colin Stough and Zachariah Smith, after singing versions of Alanis Morissette solos and Ed Sheeran duets, have ended up getting enough votes from the television audience to advance in the competition.

Morissette and Sheeran took the place of regular judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, who attended and performed at the coronation concert of King Charles III in London this weekend.

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King Charles and Queen Camilla made a surprise appearance on the American Idol broadcast, appearing with Perry and Richie.

During the show, the artists in the competition performed solos of Morrisette songs and then teamed up for duets with their fellow contestants to sing songs written by Sheeran.

Zachariah Smith had the crowd singing and dancing to Morrisette’s blockbuster hit “Ironic.” Morisette praised the performance and said that Smith was clearly “in the flow” and enjoying being on stage and performing. Sheeran said the performance was “super, super powerful.” Bryan agreed and said that Smith had “lots of dynamics” in his performance, including some “tender moments.”

For his duet with fellow competitor Haven Madiosn, Smith sang the song “Thinking Out Loud.” Sheeran raved about the duet, which he said was “really soulful, really powerful.” Morrisette said the two singers made the song feel like “it was born as a duet.”

For his solo, Colin Stough put his spin on Morrisette’s “Hand in My Pocket.” The performance received rave reviews from Morrisette and Sheeran, who both loved how he put his unique spin on a song that is so familiar.

For his duet with Megan Danielle, Stough sang a duet of “Dive.” Sheeran was wowed by the performance and said that whoever put Colin and Megan together “is a genius,” saying that the two singers complement each other very well.

The first person that was announced in the top 5 of American Idol was Smith. Stough would end up being the last one to be announced in the Top 5. The other three contestants who will continue are Megan Danielle, Iam Tongi and Wé Ani.

Oliver Steele, Haven Madison, and Warren Peay were eliminated from the competition.