Wade Cota (born August 26, 1991) was a contestant in Season 17 of American Idol.
Audition[]
Wade auditioned in Los Angeles. He sang "Blame It on Me" by George Ezra. All three judges voted "yes", sending him to the next round.
Hollywood Round[]
Wade was shown in the first part of Hollywood Week, in the same Group of Ten as Dimitrius Graham. He sang "Litost" by X Ambassadors. He advanced and was shown in a group called "Victorious Secret" along with Kason Lester, Grayson Little and Payton Taylor singing "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas and the Papas. Despite forgetting his lyrics, Wade and every other member of his group except Grayson advanced. For his final solo performance, he sang an original song called "Stay". He was placed in the third deliberation room, along with Tyler Mitchell, Dimitrius Graham, Alyssa Raghu, Bumbly, Kason Lester, Eddie Island, Shawn Robinson and Myra Tran. It was revealed that everyone in the room advanced.
Hawaii Round[]
Wade sang "Work Song" by Hozier. Afterwards, the judges told him that he did enough to become a semifinalist.
Top 20[]
Wade sang "All I Want" by Kodaline and "Broken" by Lovelytheband in a duet with Lovelytheband. Afterwards, the judges told him he did enough to become a Top 14 finalist.
Top 14[]
Wade sang "Trouble" by Ray LaMontagne during the Live Show and "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd during the Results Show. He was placed in the Top 7 in voting for that week, making him a Top 10 finalist.
Top 10[]
Wade sang "You've Got a Friend in Me" by Randy Newman from Toy Story. He received enough votes to be considered "safe" for another week.
Top 8[]
Wade sang "We Are the Champions" by Queen and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" from Guardians of the Galaxy in a duet with Alyssa Raghu. He received enough votes to be considered "safe" for another week.
Top 6[]
Wade sang "With a Little Help from My Friends" by Joe Cocker and "Through the Valley" by Shawn James. He received enough votes to be considered "safe" for another week.
Top 5[]
Wade sang "You Are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne, "Rocket Man" by Elton John and "Hard Luck Woman" by Kiss (dedicated to his mom and stepdad). He, along with Laci Kaye Booth received the lowest number of votes for that week, eliminating him from the competition.
Finale[]
For the Season 17 Finale, Wade returned to sing "Africa" and other hits with Weezer and Walker Burroughs.
| Season 17 |
| Finalists |
| Laine Hardy ·Alejandro Aranda ·Madison Vandenburg ·Laci Kaye Booth ·Wade Cota ·Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon ·Walker Burroughs ·Alyssa Raghu ·Dimitrius Graham ·Uché ·Evelyn Cormier ·Ashley Hess ·Eddie Island ·Riley Thompson |
| Semifinalists |
| Ryan Hammond ·Logan Johnson ·Raquel Trinidad ·Kate Barnette ·Bumbly ·Shawn Robinson |