Did Meridian, MS, singer Jamal Roberts win 'American Idol'?

Yahoo

19-05-2025

Meridian-native Jamal Roberts is the new "American Idol."
More than 26 million viewers voted on Sunday night, May 18, the biggest turnout in the show's history.
This season's final three was stacked with Southerners. Roberts competed against John Foster, 18, of Addis, Louisiana and Breanna Nix, 25, of Denton, Texas.
After two rounds of performances, the three competitors stood on stage awaiting the third place announcement. Suspense grew and the singers held their breath before host Ryan Seacrest announced Nix would not be joining the final two.
Roberts is the second Mississippian to win "American Idol." Trent Harmon of Amory won Season 15.
Before Roberts, five Mississippi natives had made it to the Top 10. Skylar Laine of Jackson was a finalist on Season 11. La'Porsha Renae of McComb was runner-up on Season 15. Most recently, Gattman resident Colin Stough placed third in Season 21. Also in Season 21, Amory resident Zachariah Smith made the top five.
Roberts, a 27-year-old P.E. teacher at Crestwood Elementary, started his "American Idol" Season 23 journey when he won a golden ticket singing "Mary Jane" by Rick James in audition rounds.
Before competing on "American Idol," Roberts grew a following singing covers on TikTok.
In the weeks following his audition, Roberts traveled throughout the U.S. with his fellow contestants, eluding elimination rounds with his raw, soulful performances.
On Monday, May 12, Roberts became the fourth Mississippian in "American Idol" history to break the Top 3.
When Roberts first auditioned, judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood were impressed, but agreed Roberts could use some more confidence. The singer gradually grew his stage presence, and by the finale, Roberts easily commanded the room.
Mississippi has rallied around Roberts in the past few weeks, and no community has supported the singer more than his own hometown.
Last week, Meridian held a massive celebration for Roberts' homecoming including a parade. Roberts gave a performance outside Meridian Town Hall that drew a crowd of 20,000. Meridian's entire population in just over 33,500.
A video package shown before Roberts' second performance Sunday night showed the P.E. coach's homecoming before he flew back to California for the finale.
"We are very proud that he is from Meridian," a resident said in the video. "He's showing our children they can accomplish their dreams."
Roberts' students gave emotional speeches as the entire city showed their support.
"No matter what happen after this, I'm still going to be your coach," Roberts told his students.
Roberts moved the audience with a passionate rendition of TEEKS' "First Time" for his first performance Sunday night.
Signs sporting "Team Jamal" swayed in the audience, and Roberts' family wiped tears as the music faded out.
"You just look so comfortable and at ease in the way you're walking around interacting with everybody," Underwood said in a full-circle moment. Underwood told Roberts in his audition that he needed to work on looking more comfortable and confident while singing.
"Will you teach me how to be how that smooth?" Bryan joked. "When we leave the set and I go back home, people ask me about you, and I'm like, 'Man, he is just so smooth with his delivery,' … Everything about you is a star."
"What I love about you is the way you just navigate the story and it happens to come out of your mouth in brilliant form," Richie said.
The song was hand-selected by this season's artist-in-residence Jelly Roll, who earlier in the season said Roberts' performance of his song "Liar" was even better than his original. Jelly Roll declared the song "Jamal's song."
Roberts isn't the only Mississippian with ties to the song. Grammy-nominated songwriter Ben Johnson, a member of the sibling trio Track45, co-wrote the song. The Johnsons originally are from Meridian.
Sunday night, Roberts and Jelly Roll sand "Liar" together.
For his second performance, Roberts sang "Just My Imagination" by The Temptations.
"I cannot believe that you've been in a school room teaching kids and you go from that to what you're able to do in front of us," Bryan said. "You're one of the most amazing people that I've ever seen on this show."
After the judges' comments, Seacrest pointed out the lipstick stain still on Roberts' cheek from his mom before the performance. Roberts has shown his love for his family throughout the competition.
Roberts is a father of three daughters Harmoni, 6, Lyrik, 4, and Gianna, who was born just two weeks before the finale. Harmoni and Lyrik have joined the audience for several of Roberts' performances, and once again cheered for their dad Sunday night.
For his final performance, Roberts performed Tom Odell's "Heal," which he also performed to earn a spot in the Top 10.
Once again, Roberts moved the audience to tears, adding his own twist on the original song, centering his version on his religious faith and love for Jesus.
Roberts' version of "Heal" is available now for purchase and streaming.
Lici Beveridge contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jamal Roberts wins American Idol 2025