The last time Hannah Harper and Jordan McCullough stood on a stage together, one of them walked away with a trophy and the other didn’t.
America is still arguing about which one deserved it.
Now they’re doing it again. On June 3, both of them will perform at the 19 Recordings Takeover at 6th and Peabody in Nashville — a free concert just days before Hannah makes her Grand Ole Opry debut.
On paper, it sounds like a celebration. A victory lap. A moment for the whole cast to come together and enjoy what they built.
BUT FOR A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE PEOPLE WHO WATCHED THIS SEASON, IT IS SOMETHING MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT.
Jordan McCullough still has an army of fans who have not moved on. The comments are still active. The debate is still running. Luke Bryan called him one of the best singers to ever come through the show.
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Carrie Underwood begged for a three way tie after his finale performance. And then 20 million people voted, and gave the trophy to someone else.
Hannah Harper won American Idol. Nobody is taking that away from her.
But the question that a huge portion of the audience is still asking out loud, in every comment section, on every post about this season, is whether the best singer won or whether the best story won.
That question doesn’t get answered at CMA Fest on June 3. But when these two people walk out onto that stage together for the first time since the night everything was decided — and the crowd reacts as crowds do — everyone watching will have their own answer.
Both of them have been gracious. Both of them have shown up.
Jordan said backstage after losing that he was still waiting to wake up because being runner up on American Idol still felt impossible to believe.
HANNAH HAS BEEN OPEN ABOUT THE CRITICISM SHE HAS FACED SINCE WINNING AND HASN’T BACKED DOWN FROM A SINGLE WORD OF IT.
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They come from different places, different stories, different sounds. One of them has the trophy. Both of them have the talent. And on June 3 in Nashville, the people who never stopped debating this are about to be in the same room as both of them at the same time.
That is not a celebration. That is a reckoning.