Wichitan Arthur Gunn meets musical hero on ‘American Idol,’ then his night goes downhill
His return was sweet, but it was also short.
Wichita singer Arthur Gunn — who a week ago was voted into “American Idol’s” Top Seven as part of a twist — was voted right back out on Sunday.
Gunn, 23, was one of two singers eliminated on Sunday’s episode of the ABC singing competition, which revealed its five finalists two weeks ahead of the finale.
Gunn looked nervous on the stage as the finalists were revealed one by one, and when his name wasn’t called, he walked off with a wave.
On social media, members of his large fan base offered condolences.
“You got robbed again,” one fan wrote on Facebook. “You are so much bigger than that show. I look forward to hearing you tour.”
Three weeks ago, “American Idol” announced a twist by giving 10 of last year’s top 20 finalists a chance to perform for a spot among this season’s Top 10. The rationale, producers said, was that last year’s contestants never got a chance to perform on the real “American Idol” stage since the season aired at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, last year’s singers — including Gunn — competed via live stream from their homes.
Of the 10 who competed to return to the show, Gunn was named the winner, and then he survived one round of competition to make it into the show’s Top 7. The move was controversial, though, and many “Idol” fans online said it wasn’t fair to this year’s batch of contestants.
During Sunday’s episode, which had a “Coldplay” theme, Gunn performed a drastically re-imagined version of the band’s song “In My Place.” In a clip that aired on the show, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin coached Gunn as he prepared the song and gave him his blessing to switch it up.
“I feel Arthur is just a beautiful free spirit,” Martin said. “He’s his own guy, and I love that.”
A starstruck Gunn told Martin, “I grew up listening to you, and it’s amazing.”
Gunn, whose birth name is Dibesh Pokharel, was born in Kathmandu, Nepal, and moved to Wichita seven years ago. He was at the ”American Idol” auditions that rolled through Wichita in September 2019 and made it all the way through to the final two.
This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 9:40 AM.
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