American Idol winner Iam Tongi earns major achievement after show accused of 'masking' rigging allegations

AMERICAN Idol star Iam Tongi has earned his first Billboard No. 1 just weeks after winning the show.

Iam, 18, was crowned champion of Season 21 of the ABC program and he's wasted no time in catapulting to the top of the charts.

His track, I'll Be Seeing You, has topped Rock Digital Song Sales and debuted at No. 2 on the all-format Digital Song Sales survey, Billboard reported.

According to Luminate, the song was downloaded 11,000 times between May 19 and 25.

Iam's cover of the ABBA hit, The Winner Takes It All, has debuted at No. 19 with 2,000 sold.

Overall, his catalog has moved 17,000 downloads between May 19 and 25, which is a 1,899% boost from 1,000 sold between May 12 and 18.

Iam was the first Pacific Islander champion to win the show in its 21-season history, but this season's finale has been plagued by rigging allegations.

Following Iam's victory, many viewers felt the true champion had been ripped off and accused the show of being fixed.

After an extended, three-hour-long finale, the final three competitors - Megan Danielle, Colin Stough, and Iam each sang several songs as they sought the crucial last votes.

Nearly halfway through the competition, Colin was eliminated, leaving just Megan and Iam.

And when Iam was crowned the winner, many took to Twitter to vent.

"American Idol is rigged. Colin Stough was the best one out there," one person blasted. "American Idol, I thought it was about talent."

Another cried out: "Y'all really voted Iam? Couldn't be me......  #Awful."

While a third added: "Obviously the sympathy vote fix is in."

A fourth said: "America got it wrong."

As a fifth directed his ire toward Ryan Seacrest: "So Ryan I thought #AmericanIdol was a singing contest? Any reason why the obviously better singer did not win? Curious...just asking. Thank you."

A few days later, Iam responded to the claims that the finale had been rigged in his favor.

He assured fans and critics alike that he doesn't mind the negative attention – actually, he told The Daily Mail Online that he was loving it.

"A lot of people are are like, 'Colin Stough was robbed,' or whatever. And I just love it," Iam said.

He credited his late father Rodney Tongi, who passed away in 2021, with preparing him for the backlash.

"My dad always told me that your music's not meant for everyone. There's going to be people that are not going to like it and that's OK, that's normal," Iam said.

"Everyone gets their own opinion. Everyone gets to think what they think. So, it's fine."

Over the weekend, a public relations expert said that regardless of the allegations, both Iam and Megan are likely to skyrocket.

Eric Schiffer, chairman of the Los Angeles-based firm Reputation Management Consultants, spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun about the allegations fans have been making online.

“There are a few people that believe that there was some cabal between producers, executives, and the judges that said they must vote a certain way," Schiffer told The U.S. Sun.

"NDAs and confidentiality provisions would somehow mask all this.

"What likely may have happened if there was any 'rigging,' it was a rigging of emotions in that you have a sympathetic singer whose father had recently passed and whose kindness and positivity mixed with musical talent swayed humans, in some ways maybe not even consciously.”

'TWO ROCKET CAREERS'

Schiffer said even amid the chaos of the rigging allegations, neither Tongi nor Danielle is losing out.

“So we don’t have AI [artificial intelligence] judges for a reason right now," Schiffer said of the competition show.

"If we’re purely and solely looking at music, he may or may not have won. And that’s the scandal and the dark comments coming from the internet and fans.

"But humans don’t just sort only on one thing even if they justify it logically that he may be better."

Schiffer also said he doesn't believe there is a loser in the situation.