Noah Thompson or HunterGirl - Who Won American Idol?

After a rough start where the Top 3 Idols paid tribute to Bruce Springsteen, Noah Thompson, HunterGirl and Leah Marlene settled in with various degrees of success to officially crown a new American Idol.

The night was filled with original songs from the Idols, various duets and a plethora of celeb performances by the Idol judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, along with James Arthur, Sara Bareilles, Gabby Barrett, Michael Buble, Deana Carter, Earth, Wind and Fire, Melissa Etheridge, Flo Rida and so many more that turned the 20th season of American Idol into a season not to forget.

So after a three hour finale, who took home the big win? Noah Thompson or HunterGirl?

The Top 3 turned into the Top 2 when Leah Marlene was eliminated earlier in the night which left Noah Thompson and HunterGirl to fight it out to become the next American Idol. And after a nation wide vote, who became the next American Idol?

Noah Thompson took the crown to join the long list of Idol winners and now join Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, David Cook, Phillip Phillips and so many others on a path that may lead to music immortality. Only time will tell of course, but this certainly is a major launching pad in the music business as we have seen that even non winners have gained tremendous success from doing the show, we're looking at you Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson.

The Kentucky native and dad famously who didn’t even want to audition, but he was coaxed into it when his co-worker signed him up for the show’s virtual “Idol Across America” online auditions now is has won. During the process of Idol, Thompson even caught Covid but through every obstacle, Thompson proved he had the extra something something to win the entire competition.

And with the win and his song,“One Day Tonight.” that he sang on the finale will now take him to the next part of his career as it has already landed on iTunes Top 10 country music charts and will likely get more radio play and now has the chance to go on various pop charts to get even more successful. And now that he has won, this is where the real work begins, it should be quite the ride. But with that ride, what does he have in mind for his future?

Now that we know that Thompson is the new American Idol, The Blast was backstage and was able to chat with the winner right after the big victory and asked him about what he wanted to do afterwards. Touring and an album were obvious but when asked if movies and TV were in his future, Thompson exclaimed, "It's not something to think about right now, literally I was dragged into this show, it wasn't my choice but eventually maybe down the road if I can maybe make something good then I will pursue other things besides music."

The shell-shocked Thompson added what he is instantly eager to do with that being, "Sleep, I guess we are actually going to New York tonight to be on Good Morning America and Ryan and Kelly, but I want to rest, this is all surreal and I want to settle in because I don't know, I am numb right now, this is insane. I am blown away and I am taking it all in."

Well he has about a year before we are back at the finale again as ABC has renewed the reality signing competition earlier this month for its sixth season on the network and the 21st season overall.

Until then, good luck Noah, enjoy all that comes with being the American Idol.