Madeline Mae "Maddie" Poppe (born December 5, 1997) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and the season 16 winner of American Idol.She is a multi-instrumentalist playing the guitar, piano, and ukulele. Prior to winning American Idol, Poppe released an EP titled Songs from the Basement. In 2015, she had also auditioned for The Voice. 　　Early life 　　Maddie Mae Poppe was born to Trent and Tonya Poppe in Clarksville, a small town of around 1,500 people in Iowa. As a young girl, Maddie loved to sing for her family. She did not start performing until she was in middle school. She attended Iowa Central Community College and then went to Hawkeye Community College, both in Iowa. Her father is also a musician and is a guitarist. She used to perform in with her father Trent and his band at Pioneer Days; one song they sang was Sweet Child o' Mine by Guns N' Roses. Poppe performed in local talent shows with her sister. She got her start performing at the Butler County Fairgrounds in Allison, Iowa. Poppe had also been a stagehand setting up equipment for musicians at the county fair. Poppe released her first album Songs from the Basement in June 2016, the same month she opened for Diamond Rio at the fair. 　　Recently she talked about not wanting to settle for things she did not like to do. She said she was in class writing songs instead of concentrating on her classwork. She remarked, "I was trying to get gigs while I was supposed to be paying attention to a lecture." More than fame Poppe is looking for career longevity and the enjoyment of being in music and performing. 　　Governor Kim Reynolds, declared May 20 "Maddie Poppe Day" in Iowa. 　　She is a 2016 graduate of Clarksville High School. 　　Career 　　Poppe's career began in 2016, when she released her first album, Songs from the Basement. In Summer 2017, her dad told her American Idol was having auditions and asked if she was interested. She gladly said yes. She sang "Rainbow Connection" at her audition and things started winding up from there. She won American Idol on May 21, 2018. She has since released four original songs, as well as her own renditions of ”Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”. 　　The Voice 　　Prior to Idol, she auditioned to The Voice in 2016. 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. Despite her elimination, Clarksville honored her with a city event at the Clarksville Library. 　　American Idol 　　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 of 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. 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".