Maddie Poppe Makes an 'American Idol' Finale Appearance, Despite Past Issues

When former winner Maddie Poppe made an appearance during the American Idol finale on Sunday night (May 19), you may not have realized that this was actually a pretty big deal after what’s been happening recently.

There have reportedly been some issues between Maddie and the show after her appearance on the Disney-themed episode back in April.

Maddie and her boyfriend, fellow season 16 finalist Caleb Lee Hutchinson, performed a brief duet of “A Whole New World” and the show failed to mention that her debut album Whirlwind was set to be released on May 17.

A week later, Maddie tweeted her frustration when no mention of the album was made during the next episode either. She wrote, “Was waiting for ‘ALSO from last week, our season 16 winner has an album coming out May 17th’….”

Maddie later added, “Unfortunately, I won’t be returning to perform for the finale.”

To add fuel to the fire, the next week, third place finalist Gabby Barrett performed her new single on the show and was given time to plug her new record deal with Warner Brothers Nashville.

While Maddie ended up appearing on the Idol finale, Variety reports that she was “devastated” that she wasn’t given a chance to perform her own song on the show.