Maddie Poppe

Prior to Idol, she auditioned to The Voice in 2016.[7][8] The program aired on NBC on February 29, 2016 in season 10 of the show. She sang "Dog Days Are Over" from Florence and the Machine, but none of the judges (who were Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton) turned their chairs and she was eliminated.[9] Despite her elimination, Clarksville honored her with a city event at the Clarksville Library.

She auditioned for season 16 of American Idol on ABC. In an audition held in New York, she sang "Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie. Judge Lionel Richie said she had a "storytelling voice" and that "we need you in this show". Katy Perry said she had a "distinctive quality in your voice" and Luke Bryan said "I'm not critiquing you, 'cause you got me, I'm saying yes." During the Top 24 stage, she sang "Brand New Key", and for her celebrity duet performance, she sang "Bubbly" with Colbie Caillat.

Before her Top 24 performance, Poppe admitted that she didn't want to win American Idol in the first place. She planned to make it to Top 24 and to get eliminated at some point." This sounds terrible, but I don't want to go into things with super high hopes because then, obviously, I would be super let down if it doesn't work out" she tells Bobby. Poppe also admits she has stage fright. "I remember times when I'd gotten up on stage and it totally just flopped. I fear that every time I walk on stage, I worry that it's going to happen again."

Her performance in the live shows included "Homeward Bound" in the Top 14; "Walk Like an Egyptian" as her victory song; Top 10 "The Bare Necessities" (Disney Night), "Nothing Compares 2 U" (Prince), "If It Makes You Happy" (Year of Birth), "I Told You So" (Carrie Underwood), and "God Only Knows" (Mother's day song).

During the May 20 finale, she performed "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac to honor her hometown, her original song "Don't Ever Let Your Children Grow Up" as a reprise, and her winners' single "Going Going Gone", which was originally written by Mitch Allan, Lindy Robbins and Julia Michaels.[10] On the results show broadcast on May 21, she was declared the winner, with Caleb Lee Hutchinson as runner-up and Gabby Barrett in third. During the final, the runner-up Caleb declared that he and Maddie were dating.

On the finale broadcast of American Idol she performed five songs with her father, as well as singing "Amazing Grace".

On May 17, 2019, Poppe released her first studio album, Whirlwind. She appeared on American Idol on April 21 to plug her new album; however, the show cut to commercial before she was able to announce her album. She also appeared on the finale episode. The third single "Made You Miss" debuted at number 39 on the US Adult Top 40 chart and the following week rose to number 35, later peaking at number 21 and spending a total of 16 weeks on the chart.[11][12] Poppe will join Ingrid Michaelson on the upcoming Dramatic Tour in the United States starting on October 3, 2019.[13]