'American Idol' Season 18: Dibesh aka Arthur Gunn, the Nepali rockstar from Kansas is an instant hit with fans
The 18th season of American Idol has just premiered (it's the show's third season on the ABC network) and already fans are falling over themselves with excitement on hearing the new crop of contestants auditioning. It's also a chance to reacquaint ourselves with last year's judges, namely Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, who all look like they're in an extremely warm, generous, amiable headspace. Ditto goes for Ryan Seacrest and Bobby Bones, who reprise their roles as show host and fulltime mentor respectively.
Plenty of people have started choosing favorites based on the performances from tonight's episode, and one standout, in particular, is Dibesh Pokharel, the young Nepali boy from Wichita, Kansas who has soaked up bluegrass and country music ever since moving to the United States.
Dibesh's name means "light" in his native language and clearly one can see that he's lit up the lives and hearts of millions of viewers already. Performing under the name of Arthur Gunn, the young man's bluesy, gritty, soulful vocals have struck a chord with fans, who loved both his amazing voice and song choices. He sang Bob Dylan's 'Girl From The North Country' and then 'Have You Ever Seen The Rain' by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
"Insane voice" said one Twitter user, who agreed with Katy Perry's assessment that Dibesh was "De Besh" (a pun on "The Best"). Another viewer declared him the king of the singing competition already, based on those two songs alone. "And the winner of #AmericanIdol is #ArthurG. :) ...That didn't take long!" said Dibesh's newest fan.
Other viewers were in agreement that he was one of the best 'Idol' contestants yet : "@ArthurGunn122 is by far my absolute favorite so far. My GAWDDDDD" crowed an excited girl on Twitter. Another bigtime fan was even ready to fork out money to hear his music, having been so impressed by his voice. "I’d buy an album from #ArthurGunn today!" the fan wrote.
The fans also agreed with the judges on the fact that Dibesh's tendency to let his eyes roll back in his head while singing was a bit off-putting, and were happy to see him take the feedback and connect with his audience more by establishing more eye contact with his viewers.
But it's clear to see that Arthur is already a huge fan favorite after that stellar audition, and we can't wait to see what he comes up with next!