A Massapequa Park teenager, who has already taken the “American Idol” judges by storm this season, has now advanced as one of the show’s top 30 contestants.
The most recent cut, featured on the March 2 episode, reduced the field from 137 singers to just 30. Jesse Findling is now one step closer to possibly becoming the first Long Island native to win an “American Idol” season.
Findling performed Adele’s “Love In The Dark” in front of the star judges, saying it was one of the songs he had known he wanted to sing on the show since he was younger.
Findling received a standing ovation from the judges and even received a hug from country star Luke Bryan.
Bryan posted a video of himself and Findling embracing on stage to his Instagram account with the caption “A star is born y’all.”
“I’m in the top 30 now, as you guys saw on tonight’s episode and saying that out loud is crazy,” Findling said in a video he posted on social media after the episode aired. ” I appreciate you guys so much, and I’m just super excited to keep going on this journey.”
Findling was 19 when he first auditioned for the show, before turning 20 in November 2025. He won a Golden Ticket to Hollywood Week, which was featured on the Jan. 26 premiere of “American Idol’s” 24th season.
Findling said to the judges during that episode that singing is more than just a passion, and that it is also a way for him to cope with the stutter he has had for most of his life.
“If you haven’t noticed, I have a stutter and that’s really where my love for singing came,” Findling said to the ABC show’s judges. “I’ve had a stutter ever since I was little and it’s something that I’ve struggled with since elementary school. It was something embarrassing for me and it’s something that I had a really hard time with.”
Findling said that his stutter made him “feel alone” at times when he was growing up, but that he worked through those negative feelings with singing.
Findling sang Benson Boone’s “In the Stars” during his audition, receiving a standing ovation from the show’s star judges, who all praised his performance afterwards.
Besides being a praised singer, Findling is a 2023 Massapequa High School graduate and current Binghamton University student, pursuing a degree in biology.
