MONROE — Where’s Benson?
Social media lit up this week with a question: Why was Benson Boone not on “American Idol” Sunday or Monday?
No one’s talking. But the 18-year-old singer from Monroe with the dreamy voice did not appear on the latest round of the show. He’s keeping the swoon alive, though.
Boone, new to the singing circuit, won over viewers and all three judges on the season premier of ABC’s “American Idol” on Feb. 14.
Judge Katy Perry remarked, “They’re gonna swoon over Benson Boone.”
He got the golden ticket to advance to the “Hollywood” round, which aired this week. But there was no sign of Boone.
Despite thousands of inquiries on TikTok, where he has 1.4 million followers, Boone has not said why he left “American Idol.” The show’s publicist also wouldn’t say. The buzz is that he will release a statement this week.
Benson Boone of Monroe on “American Idol” on Feb. 14. (ABC)
There’s plenty of speculation — and adoration — on social media, where he has fans worldwide. Women often comment how much they love him. They praise his voice. His tousled hair. His strapping bod. (At Monroe High School, he was known for his diving skill.)
Over the weekend, Boone posted two TikTok videos associated with pop-rock band Imagine Dragons, whose 2012 hit “Radioactive” got 1.2 billion views on YouTube.
Boone teased about “working on something really big” and “cannot wait to share it with you.” In one video, he is with “the man himself,” Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds, doing a duet of the band’s new song, “Follow You.”
@bensonboone @imaginedragons #fyp #singing ♬ original sound – Benson
In another TikTok this week, Boone crooned an original song in what appears to be a recording studio of sorts.
He’s such a heartthrob that even TikToks of him yawning get tons of flirts.
Boone was a high school junior when a friend recruited him to play piano for a “battle of the bands” and asked him to sing. His voice surprised everyone, including him.
His family started a Benson Boone Scholarship Fund with the Monroe Public Schools Foundation. A $15 donation to the fund gets a “#Swoonforboone” T-shirt.
“We’ve shipped shirts all over the United States,” said Sue Skillen, foundation director. “We are so excited for him. It is so fun to see his success. They are just an amazing family.”
Kerry Boone, his mom, said a teacher once described him as being “his own weather system as he moves from room to room. You can feel that energy.”
Boone, the middle child of five and the only boy, attended Brigham Young University-Idaho last fall. He took this semester off to sing.
He played piano and sang “Punchline” by Aidan Martin in his first and only appearance on “American Idol.” All three judges — Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie — stood up and gave him a “Yes.”
“Benson Ka-boom,” Ritchie said.
Bryan told the singer, “You’re not cocky, you’re humble.”
“I see you winning ‘American Idol’ if you want to,” Perry said.
.Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter @reporterbrown.
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