Just a day after making the Top 16 of American Idol, Park City-based Wyatt Pike dropped out of the competition.
Idol presenter Ryan Seacrest made the announcement at the start of Monday night’s show on ABC. “I have to tell you that finalist Wyatt Pike will not participate in the competition. He had to drop out. But we wish him all the best.”
The night before, 24 finalists were reduced to 16 on a two-hour broadcast. Pike was the second to last competitor in his group to advance. The judges complimented Pike’s performance of Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody”. Katy Perry called him an “authentic singer-songwriter” and suggested he was a leader in the league. Luke Bryan said Pike could “spend the rest of his life making music”. And Lionel Richie said Pike had a style that the judges liked and that the 20-year-old was “on his way to something big.”
As of late Monday night, Pike was silent about his departure from the show. Pike’s last social media activity was a message he posted last Wednesday featuring photos of the Park City area saying, “Something to feel this through: at home. Grateful for the rollercoaster I’m on today.”
KPCW attempted to reach out to Pike and an American Idol publicist who helped facilitate interviews with Pike during the show, but received no response. Until last year, Pike was a volunteer DJ at KPCW. He spoke with Leslie Thatcher from KPCW on The Local News Hour on March 26 about his experience with American Idol. People magazine reports that an American Idol representative said, “Wyatt was unable to continue for personal reasons.”