'American Idol' officially crowns its Season 20 winner and viewers are surprised

Yahoo Entertainment
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American Idol officially crowned its Season 20 winner Sunday.

While it was a great night full of amazing performances by the season's top 10 contestants, the judges and some celebrity guests, the winning moment all came down to Huntergirl and Noah Thompson, after Leah Marlene was surprisingly eliminated in the first live voting round of the night.

After a nationwide vote of almost 16 million votes, the Season 20 winner is Noah Thompson!

While Idol viewers were mostly hung up on the fact that Leah didn't make it to the final two and win, they were also surprised by the fact that Huntergirl didn't win.

However, it was a true underdog story for Noah, a 20-year-old construction worker and father from Louisa, Kentucky, who had only auditioned for Idol because his best friend secretly signed him up. Noah had, without a doubt, the least amount of singing experience, which made his win all the more rewarding for both him and fans.

Overall, it was a strong season full of really great talent and auditions for American Idol Season 21 are already underway.

Video Transcript

[THEME MUSIC]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- The winner of "American Idol" 2022 after the nationwide vote, almost 16 million votes came in for this, is--

KYLIE MAR: "American Idol" officially crowned its season 20 winner Sunday. While it was a great night of amazing performances by the top 10, the judges, and some celebrity guests--

[MUSIC - MELISSA ETHERIDGE AND NOAH THOMPSON, "I'M THE ONLY ONE"]

MELISSA ETHERIDGE AND NOAH THOMPSON: (SINGING) It's only fear that makes you run. The demons that you're hiding from, when all your promises are gone.

KYLIE MAR: Leah Marlene was surprisingly eliminated in the first round of the night, so it all came down to Hunter Girl and Noah Thompson. And the winner was--

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- Noah Thompson. Congratulations, Noah-- [INAUDIBLE]

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

- I'm so proud of you.

KYLIE MAR: While "Idol" viewers were mostly still hung up on the fact that Leah didn't make it to the final two and win, they were also surprised by the fact that Hunter Girl didn't win. But it was a true underdog story for Noah, a 20-year-old construction worker and father from Louisa, Kentucky, who had only auditioned for "Idol" because his best friend secretly signed him up.

- Why did you sign him up, Arthur?

- Because he wouldn't have signed himself up.

[LAUGHTER]

KYLIE MAR: Overall, it was a strong season full of really great talent, and for those who are bummed about Leah, I don't think this is the last we see of her.

[MUSIC - NOAH THOMPSON, "ONE DAY TONIGHT"]

NOAH THOMPSON: (SINGING) Pour a glass of wine and dream out loud, talk about one day tonight.

[CHEERING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]