Haley Reinhart Shines on her Return to American Idol

Haley Reinhart was amongst other top American Idol alumni who were invited to return to the show to mentor and perform with the Top 24 contestants.

Each former Idol star was paired with two contestants each. Haley was paired with Kory Wheeler, and Adam Lasher to mentor and duet with.

It was obvious just how much Haley has grown as a singer and performer since she was a contestant on American Idol five years ago. Last night, she reminded America why we fell in love with her in the first place! Haley received praise from all three Idol judges, Harry Connick Jr., Keith Urban, and Jennifer Lopez (who was a judge during Haley’s time on Idol in Season 10). JLo even commented that they thought Haley was going to win that season!

Kory Wheeler actually auditioned for American Idol with Bennie and the Jets, so naturally that was their song choice for their duet. Watch Haley mentor Kory, and give a killer performance of the Elton John classic that made such a tremendous mark for Haley when she was a contestant:

For the second duet, Haley and Adam Lasher gave us a romantic duet version of Haley’s single “Can’t Help Falling in Love”:

Ryan Seacrest commented that he’s been playing the single (Can’t Help Falling in Love) on the radio (KIIS FM, L.A.’s #1 Hit Music Station). At the end of the night, unfortunately both Adam and Kory were eliminated from the competition.

After the airing of the episode, Haley’s single “Can’t Help Falling in Love” peaked on the iTunes Pop Charts at #19, and the overall iTunes Charts at #45. Haley’s debut album after Idol “Listen Up!” also got a boost and rose to #42 on the Pop Album Charts.