'American Idol' Season 18 'This Is Me': Jonny West doubted himself at first but later found his winning potential
The latest episode of 'American Idol' premiered on Sunday night, April 12, which meant it was a chance to get up close and personal with some of our favorite singers from the show, like Jonny West. Since the ongoing coronavirus has placed a lot of uncertainty on the forthcoming schedule of 'American Idol' episodes, the producers decided to release a 'This Is Me' edition of the show, which would take a closer look at some standout performers from Season 18, including some unreleased behind-the-scenes footage.
Thanks to this new look at West's backstory, we were able to fully understand the emotional roller coaster that the young man has gone through. He originally was a truck driver, wanting to see the country instead of focusing on his passion for music. Thankfully, he realized his potential after some introspection and encouragement from his parents and took to teaching music after building on his musical foundations. Interestingly, he primarily came to the Season 18 auditions to root for his girlfriend Margie Mays, who had been eliminated in the later rounds of the previous season. This time, the young piano teacher from Murietta, California decided to take a more active role in proceedings, while still being Margie's bedrock of support and "purse holder," as he so charmingly put it. His audition performance of one of his original songs on the piano completely floored the judges - he didn't just do a typical pop arrangement, he jazzed it up with a ridiculously entertaining rap in between, which had Lionel Richie blown away by his talent.
It turns out that hip-hop was Jonny's first love - he admitted his rap name was Skinny Neuton back in the day. He revealed in this episode that he used to make mixtapes in his bedroom closet, which doubled as a stopgap recording booth during his high school years. He also showed fans numerous notebooks filled with rap lyrics, some good, some cheesy - "All these fanny packs that break your granny's back" is a lyric we never thought we'd hear on national TV. But although he showed considerable talent in the audition rounds, rooting for his girlfriend Margie meant that Jonny was not focusing on his own ambitions for the competition - it seemed like he was just along for the ride, hoping that Margie did better than him. That showed in Hollywood Week, when the couple's lackluster duet was panned by the judges. Katy Perry warned them that they needed to focus on themselves individually, instead of on each other.
Even more sobering was the fact that Margie did not make the Top 40, while Jonny did - one of the more heartbreaking moments of the season was seeing the contestants celebrating the fact that they were going to Aulani, Hawaii, while Jonny stood aloof and morose, gloomy about the fact that his dreams with Margie now lay vanquished on the floor. But after some pep talk and an earnest talking to from mentor Bobby Bones and the 'Idol' judges, Jonny regrouped and seized his opportunity. His Hawaii performance was one of a fighter. Going into the Top 20 portion of the competition, Jonny remains one of the biggest contenders who can walk away with the top prize, as long as he capitalizes on his jaw-dropping potential.
His fans certainly seem to think that he can win it all. A previous winner of 'American Idol', Maddie Poppe, recently tweeted "Sorry, but I need to say it..not a dig on anybody else, but Jonny West is the best male singer AND (more importantly) ARTIST this year, and he’s top 3. Mark my words." The show's fulltime mentor, Bobby Bones, also had some encouraging words for Jonny: "I don’t think your gonna be driving trucks for a living anytime soon." And Perry said what we were all thinking when she posted "Your family, Margie Mays, and we believe in you Jonny West. Time for you to believe in you too!"
We think Jonny West can make it all the way to the finals, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Tune in for more 'American Idol' next Sunday at 8 pm ET on the ABC network.