Laine Hardy, who appeared in the 16th season of American Idol, was crowned this season’s winner of the competition series on Sunday night.

The Louisiana native wasn’t planning on auditioning for a second time. He was accompanying a friend to her audition, when judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie asked Hardy to give it another try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfFfHe5LQoA

“He got good,” Perry said during his unplanned audition. “What’s your problem? Why don’t you want to come back? Take this ticket. You found your confidence!”

Hardy reluctantly took the golden ticket and ended up in the final three against Madison VanDenberg and singer/guitarist Alejandro Aranda, who auditioned with an original song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8YZeV9GttI

The competition was close, Aranda sang a series of original songs that truly emphasized how special of a songwriter he is, but Hardy won it all with his final song “Bring It On Home To Me” by Sam Cooke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-1gg4x2FZg

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