First, Funke Lagoke and Ronda Felton were set by the judges as duet partners. Ronda was very insecure and there was a lot of pressure to learn the song in one day, but Funke was there to reassure her, saying “I have faith in my partner. We will make it.” The two women took the stage in front of judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan for their performance of “Tell Him” by Barbra Streisand, and, at first, it didn’t seem as if the judges were going to send them through. “Well, we had a clear and present disagreement,” Lionel told the ladies, referring to the fact that Katy and Luke had differing opinions on whether they should go through. “Today was a train wreck. Ronda, yesterday when we spoke, I said I wanted you to get your self-esteem together because your voice is in there. On your opening lines that person was out there while Funke was smiling, watching you blossom. Then you crashed and burned. Funke, you got yourself to the end and the problem is…” And Lionel didn’t say another word because Funke collapsed to the stage floor. Ronda and the judges rushed to her, as did the Idol medical team. When she couldn’t stand or sit up, an ambulance was called, and she was taken to the hospital. Funke was treated for dehydration and released. The good news is she is healthy enough to return next week for the Showstopper round. In the meantime, Lionel spoke to a tearful Ronda, “As traumatic as that was, I was about to deliver some news so I thought I should deliver it to you. What I was going to say was both of you deserve to go through.” A tearful Ronda said, “It is amazing news. I can’t say I’m happy in this moment. I’m worried about her health more than anything. That is the No. 1 thing right now. I love her and I care about her and I want her to be OK.” And as if that wasn’t enough drama for one night, not long after, Althea Grace’s 2-year-old daughter Lennon, who was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis and needed a liver transplant in 2020, was rushed to the hospital while her mom was 2,000 miles away from Chicago and helpless to do do anything. Althea was beside herself, trying to decide whether to go home or not and leave her duet partner Camille Lamb in the lurch. “My daughter’s feeding tube came out,” she said as she explained her dilemma. “They have to make sure she gets enough fluids. I am overwhelmed and trying to focus and not feel terrible that I am not there with her, but I also don’t want to let Camille down. We’ve been working really hard on our song.” Meanwhile, Camille told Althea to do what she needs to do. “I hope Lennon is OK. I am trying not to smother her because I know she needs a moment to relax, because this is a big deal. I feel helpless because I am not sure she will be here tomorrow.” The two women hadn’t gotten off to a great start. Althea had explained to Katy, “She is a talented singer, but I am not feeling the click. Both of us feel the tension. Why I am even away from my daughter if it is not going to go well? I am nervous if we don’t sing super well together that is going to hinder whether we move forward or not.” But Katy got the two women to recognize each other’s talents, so when they took the stage, they would knock it out of the ballpark, which they did, but not until after Althea got a call from her father telling her that everything was fine. Althea was relieved, but also still wanted to rush to her daughter’s side. “I really want to go home, but I sacrificed a lot to come here to do this, so I am not going to give up,” Althea was able to say. “Sometimes with what Lennon goes through and with what I go through with her, I feel angry. This is what my kid has to go through. I am going to chain some of that anger to put into the song.” As Althea and Camille took the stage, Katy reminded Althea, “Your child does not understand dreams if you don’t dream. You must keep dreaming.” The two Idol hopefuls got unanimous thumbs up from the judges, so their dream will continue to the Showstopper round. American Idol airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Next, Watch the ‘Unbelievable’ American Idol Contestant Who Lost 200 Pounds Before His Audition
