‘Just couldn’t believe it.’ Kentucky’s Noah Thompson describes ‘American Idol’ win

Kentucky native Noah Thompson brought home a win for the commonwealth after being announced the winner of “American Idol” Season 20.

Thompson was announced as the winner on Sunday after 16 million votes were cast during the show’s season finale. Thompson, originally from Louisa, worked as a construction worker before entering the reality singing competition. He attended Lawrence County High School.

He was signed up for the show by his best friend and coworker, Arthur.

“I really did not want to do it at all,” Thompson said. “I was kind of upset about it in the beginning.”

A month after Arthur signed him up, Thompson said he received a call from Arthur asking for help with a job. When Thompson arrived, he realized Arthur had tricked him. Thompson showed up to a Zoom call of American Idol producers.

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“I ended up singing to them, and they told me I was going to go to Austin to audition,” Thompson said.

During his time on the show, Thompson said the possibility of him winning didn’t hit him until he reached the top three. He was against singers HunterGirl and Leah Marlene.

“I’m so hard on myself when it comes to singing and playing music in general,” Thompson said. “So when I made top three, I just couldn’t believe it.”

Throughout the show, Thompson covered songs from artists such as Rihanna, Fleetwood Mac and Morgan Wallen.

“We’ve got the boy out here doing Bruce Springsteen, we’ve got him doing Disney songs, Rihanna. That’s a long way from that first audition,” said judge Luke Bryan, referencing when Thompson performed “Giving You Up” by Kameron Marlowe. “Let me just say I’m so proud of how you handled this with such humility, that ‘aw shucks’ country boy thing.”

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Thompson said it’s hard to describe the feeling he had when he heard his name called during the finale.

“Part of me wanted to win, part of me wanted Hunter to win,” Thompson said. “We became so close throughout the competition.”

‘So cool to take home a win for Kentucky’

Thompson said he has enjoyed being back home in Louisa since the show ended.

“I got off the plane and I felt like I could breathe again,” Thompson said. “I hadn’t seen a pine tree in two months, so it’s good to be back home and take all this in.”

He said it means the world to him to represent Kentucky in the competition.

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“It was so cool to take home a win for Kentucky, because it’s been a long time coming,” Thompson said.

Thompson has a wife and an infant son, and said they were his motivation throughout the show.

Going forward Thompson said he is most excited to release new music. He said nothing has been officially announced yet, but he has new music in the works. Thompson performed his debut single, “One Day Tonight,” during the season finale. The song debuted at No. 3 earlier in the week on the iTunes country chart, according to Taste of Country.