Massapequa's American Idol Sensation Gets Tough News On Monday Night Episode

LOS ANGELES, CA — For Jesse Findling, Monday night was the end of a journey that started months ago.

The 2023 Massapequa High School graduate was voted into the top 12 of American Idol at the start of Monday night's episode, advancing to the next round of the reality competition show after an unprecedented week-long wait to tabulate social media vote totals.

It was 90s night on American Idol, and Findling was given a choice between Oasis's "Wonderwall," Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah," and Brian Adams' "Everything I Do."

Ultimately, he chose to cover Wonderwall, the chart-topping platinum single from the Manchester, UK natives who toured the U.S. in 2024.

For Lionel Richie, who selected the songs Findling could perform, the choice of Wonderwall was what he called a "Hail Mary."

"I didn't think it was going to match," Lionel Richie told Findling after his performance. "It did. Congratulations."

"You did your thing, and it worked," Carrie Underwood told Findling, noting that Wonderwall would've been the last of the three songs she would've selected for him to sing.

In his feedback, Luke Bryan said it was his favorite Jesse Findling performance of the season.

At the end of the episode, however, it wasn't enough. Findling landed in the bottom two vote-getters, alongside Rae. With the choice down to two, Richie stepped in and saved Rae.

"Both of you did an amazing, amazing job. This is very difficult," Richie said. "My answer is Rae."

In an interview with "On The Red Carpet" after the show, Findling said he was looking back proudly at what he'd accomplished on American Idol.

"I was kind of in shock when it happened, but now I'm looking back at everything I did and I'm just proud of myself," Findling said. "I've grown so much, and...I've been saying there's good things about staying on the show, there's also good things about leaving. Everybody has to move on...so now I can look ahead."

Findling said he was thinking "far ahead" about what he wanted to do next, adding that he wanted to make his own music.