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Update | May 8, 2023 – Bamberg’s own Warren Peay battled it out for a top 5 spot in Sunday night’s ‘American Idol’.His final performances were of an Alanis Morissette classic titled ‘All I Really Want’ and a duet of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’.Warren performed both songs but failed to reach enough votes and sadly had to say goodbye to ‘American Idol’.We want to send our congratulations to Warren for getting as far as he did and making the CSRA very proud.

BAMBERG, SC. (WJBF)- A local singer is making his hometown proud as he competes on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood: the set of American Idol. Family and friends gathered today in his hometown of Bamberg, South Carolina, to send him mad props!

“He loves Bamberg, this is where he grew up, this is like what he’s familiar with, what he’s used to. So, definitely going out to Hollywood he’s loved it, loved the experience, but just being home– there’s no place like home,” Warren Peay’s fiancé Sarah Linder said.

Saturday morning, family, friends, and fans of American Idol gathered at the Bamberg Civic Center to show their support for Warren Peay.

“I think seeing all the support that he has here, it definitely motivates to do better because he wants to make Bamberg proud and do everything that he can to make a name for himself and Bamberg and Jesus too,” Linder said.

Friends say they always knew the final eight star’s passion for music would lead him to the big stage.

“I can remember him standing up on a stool in our church singing Long Black Train, which is a very old song, and he was so country, and he could not carry a tune in a bucket,” Warren Peay’s friend Michelle Collins.

Going from a small town to a big city is a big deal and this crowd’s goal was to make sure Warren felt the love from more than 2,000 miles away.

“I wanted to get something together for hometown support. To show Warren that we are here, we have his back. I mean of course he’s in California so he couldn’t be with us today,” Collins said.

And with the competition dwindling down to a single winner, the support is needed more than ever.

“Online, you can vote through the American Idol App, and you can vote through text. They have it on the Facebook page, I think, and at the bottom of every show after the contestants sing they have the number that you can text,” Linder said.

That number to text is 2-1-5-2-3 and each person can vote a total of 30 times and Warren Peay is contestant number two, or you can visit to vote during the live show Sunday at 8pm Eastern Time.

“American Idol” showed off its new stage in Hollywood on Sunday night to celebrate the 21st season of the show.

It’s the same space where “I Love Lucy” and “Golden Girls” were filmed.

And it’s where two South Carolina residents continue their Idol dream. Viewers voted Mariah Faith of Conway and Warren Peay of Bamberg into the Top 20.

Six contestants did not make it to the next round. On Monday, the top 12 will be revealed — 10 selected based on viewers’ votes and the judges will select two others.

Host Ryan Seacrest announced 33 million votes were received after last week’s shows and the videos of performances had gotten almost 1 billion views.

In the video before he performed, Peay, an appliance repairman, was shown gardening, saying how much he loves digging in the soil and nurturing plants. He also talked about a time in his life when he struggled with alcohol but once he began working at his church he was able to overcome it.

He said he wanted to dedicate his singing career to Jesus Christ.

He sang a Zach Williams song, “Up Here Down Here.”

Judge Lionel Richie said he knows if you let go and let God, everything falls into place. He called Peay’s performance “beautiful.”

Judge Katy Perry teased him, saying he looked like he had a hair dryer blow out on his long beard. Once again, he wore his signature cowboy hat, which he revealed last week had a photo of his girlfriend tucked in the lining for good luck.

“I’m glad God sent you to us,” she said.

Judge Luke Bryan said the song choice was “world class.”

“Stay you, and America will speak,” he said.

Mariah Faith, a hairdresser, was shown in her home, which is in the backyard of her mother’s four-acre property. Her grandparents, who were in the audience, live two minutes away.

She said her mother doesn’t want her to leave and she doesn’t want to, either.

She sang “Cry to Me.” by Solomon Burke.

Once again, Bryan talked about her soulful country sound. Last week he called her voice a “bluesy, soulful, raspy thing.”

Richie said she had taken an old song and made it new, while Perry compared her to Bonnie Raitt.

The contest continues Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC.

This story was originally published April 24, 2023, 8:54 AM.

BAMBERG, S.C. (WJBF)– “He’s anointed, and when he sings, you can feel it. I don’t care if he’s singing ABC,123 or if he’s singing Jesus Loves Me, you’re going to feel it,” said Pastor Shawn Hanks of Colston Baptist Church.

Family and friends say it’s by God’s grace that a singer like Warren Peay has made it this far in the American Idol competition.

Peay is a Bamberg native, who is hoping to make his way to the top 7 as a contestant.

Those who know him say his love for music goes back years.

His pastor Shawn Hanks says he’s come a long way during this journey.

“He had an itch to do this several years ago. I talked with him, and I really honestly didn’t feel like he was ready. Then, when he got contacted by American Idol to do this, I knew, then, God was ready him,” said Pastor Hanks.

Peay auditioned for American Idol back in March, and he says he hopes to be an inspiration to the world on and off the stage.

“I like to be able to mesh everything together in order to create my own unique sound, to have lyrics that are meaningful, and to have a personality and morals that are meaningful that would line up with my faith,” said Warren Peay.

“I mean, he’s no put on. He’s no fake. I’ve been around music a lot in my little bit of time on this earth, and I’ve traveled and sang with a group. I’ve been around big groups, and a lot of people don’t live what they’re singing about. Warren does that,” said Hanks.

Hanks also says that no matter how far Peay goes in the competition, the experience for both him and his family was well worth it.

“So if the top 10 is where it ends, we’re giving God praise. If he goes to the top eight and he keeps going, whatever God has in store, he’s gone a whole lot farther than anyone ever thought he would in the first place. We know he would, but the world will see him,” said Hanks.

Peay has now made it to the Top 8 of American Idol.

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An appliance repairman from Bamberg sang his way into the top 24 on “American Idol” during a show broadcast Sunday night.

Warren Peay, who is also a workshop leader at Colston Baptist Church, appeared without his guitar as he had in his two previous appearances and sang an Allman Brothers tune “Whipping Post.”

The format of the show, called “Showstopper Final Judgment,” was for the contestants to perform before a studio audience, with the judges watching from a balcony seat, and then meet with them later.

Host Ryan Seacrest called the round “survival of the fittest.”

When Peay walked out to sing, Judge Katy Perry said with surprise, “What the hell? No guitar.”

He wore his signature jeans, flannel shirt and cowboy hat, his long hair and beard shining in the stage lights.

As is said among entertainers, he left it all on the stage, with rousing vocals and confident stage presence. When Peay sat down before them, Luke Bryan said, “What do you think of all this?”

Peay responded, “It’s a long way from home, a little fancy for my taste.”

He said he would very much like to leave appliances behind and make singing his full-time career.

“You have cleared yet another hurdle. You’re in the top 24,” Bryan said.

Afterward, Peay was filmed saying he would have been fine if he had gone home. He misses his family, who he normally sees everyday, he said.

Previously, he said of Bamberg that it is a town “where everybody talks about leaving but nobody does.”

Perry has called Peay authentic and Judge Lionel Richie predicted he’d be in the top 10.

In all, 11 singers were chosen for the top 24 and two more performed, but their fates were held over until Monday’s show. Three were shown being cut.

Two singers from South Carolina were shown in previous shows as making it to Showstopper but were not shown performing Sunday night.

A short teaser was shown of Mariah Faith of Conway with her head in her hands amid a montage of the remaining contestants responding with joy, surprise or sadness.

Perry tried to amp the tension in telling the various singers their fate. She told one to go home, paused a beat and added “and pack your bags to come back to the top 24.”

Also selected to continue in the competition last week was Preston Duffee of Hartsville.

American Idol’s media page says Faith and Duffee will be on Monday’s show.

The competition among the top 24 continues with the April 16 episode at the Disney Aulani Resort in Hawaii. Each week, singers are cut until three are left for the May 21 finale.

Other South Carolina singers selected for Hollywood week were Aiden Adair of Clover, Tripp Taylor of Florence, Janora Brown of Lake City, Brayden Philips of Lancaster, and Ophrah Kablan of Clio.

South Carolina has had one Idol winner, Beaufort native Candice Glover, in the 12th season. She has since released one album and appeared on Broadway.

Idol’s usual time slot is 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC.

This story was originally published April 10, 2023, 8:40 AM.