Just one day after reaching the American Idol Top 16, Park City resident Wyatt Pike dropped out of the competition.
Idol host Ryan Seacrest made the announcement at the beginning of the Monday night show on ABC. “I have to tell you, finalist Wyatt Pike will not be competing in the competition. He had to drop out. But we wish him well.”
The night before, 24 finalists were down to 16 during a two-hour broadcast. Pike was the penultimate contestant in his group to advance. The judges congratulated Pike’s performance of Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody.” Katy Perry called him a “true singer-songwriter” and hinted that he was a leader in the competition. Luke Bryan said that Pike “will be able to make music for the rest of his life.” And Lionel Richie said that Pike had a style that the judges liked to see and that the 20-year-old was on his “way to something great.”
As of Monday night, Pike has been silent about his departure from the show. Pike’s latest activity on social media was a post he made last Wednesday with photos from the Park City area, saying “Something to feel this about: home. Thankful for the roller coaster I’m on today.”
KPCW has attempted to contact Pike and an American Idol publicist who helped facilitate interviews with Pike during the show, but has received no response. Until last year, Pike was a volunteer DJ at KPCW. He spoke to KPCW’s Leslie Thatcher at Time for local news on March 26 about her experience on American Idol. People The magazine reports that a representative for American Idol said that “Wyatt was unable to continue due to personal reasons.”