‘American Idol’ premiere will feature a Wichita singer who’s been all over the show’s ads
A new season of “American Idol” will launch on ABC, Channel 10, on Sunday, and a singer from Wichita will be on it.
How far he will get in the competition, the always tight-lipped producers of the show will not say. During a phone interview on Monday, Wichita singer Arthur Gunn was allowed by a listening-in publicist only to say that he would appear on the premiere episode.
But there are plenty of signs that he might be a real player on the new season of the ABC singing competition.
For one, Gun appears in a commercial for the show that debuted during the Academy Awards on Sunday and has been in heavy rotation on the network ever since. It features a busload of new “Idol” contestants singing along to Elton John’s classic song “Tiny Dancer.”
The commercial, a tribute to a scene from the 2000 film “Almost Famous,” includes “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest merrily driving the bus filled with contestants. At the end of the commercial, he says, “These ‘Idol’ hopefuls are almost famous.”
Gunn, wearing a green shirt, a gold earring and sunglasses on top of his head, can be seen singing in the back row of the bus.
We also know that Gunn at least made it in front of celebrity judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan because he also was prominently featured in a sneak peak of the season released in December.
In the clip, Gunn strums his guitar in front of the celebrity judges as he performs a few lines from “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.” After, judge Bryan appears to say of him, “I think he might be the biggest star we’ve ever had on ‘American Idol.’”
Arthur Gunn, 20, is actually a stage name for Dibesh Pokharel, a native of Nepal who says he moved to Wichita about six years ago.
Gunn said he followed his sisters to Wichita, where they were attending school, and that his parents then followed, too.
He sang all the time as a child in Nepal, he said, but for a long time, he thought of it as just a hobby.
“I took it seriously the year before I came to Wichita,” he said.
In Nepal, Gunn said, he would perform in coffee houses and pubs but more often he’d sing for gatherings of friends. Eventually, he recorded some of his music.
He submitted an online audition to “Idol” last year and was invited to attend the Wichita in-person auditions, which attracted a big crowd to Century II. At the time, producers would not say how many hopefuls from Wichita advanced to the next round.
The whole experience has been pretty wild, Gunn said.
“I’ve had a little bit of nervousness, but I always believed in my music and believed in myself that I could do it,” he said.
Gunn said he sings many different kinds of music and that his influences are too numerous to name. But a listen to his YouTube channel reveals an acoustic rock sound.
Wichita was one of 22 cities the show’s producers visited over a two-month period last summer. It was “Idol’s” first scouting visit to the city since the show — which has produced stars like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood — started in 2002.
The season that starts at 7 p.m. on Sunday will be the show’s 18th overall and the third to air on ABC.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 2:05 PM.
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