Paper Trails

Crowd in Malvern watches Arkansas resident win 'American Idol'

Bryan and Mandy Couch cheer at a watch party Thursday night in Malvern as Trent Harmon is named the American Idol winner.
Bryan and Mandy Couch cheer at a watch party Thursday night in Malvern as Trent Harmon is named the American Idol winner.

MALVERN -- Nearly 100 people gathered Thursday at Larry's Pizza to watch the town's adopted son, Mississippi native Trent Harmon, one of two finalists in the 15th and final competition of Fox's American Idol. Many, including the waitresses, wore blue Team Trent T-shirts.

Harmon, a University of Arkansas at Monticello graduate, has been in Malvern for a year to be closer to girlfriend Kathleen Couch, a fifth-grade teacher at Magnet Cove Elementary. On Wednesday, Harmon competed for the final time against fellow Mississippian La'Porsha Renae after the third finalist, Dalton Rapattoni, was eliminated. All three tried out in Little Rock.

During the finale, Couch was in the audience of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, seated with Harmon's parents. Her mother, Sherry, and stepfather, Tim Taylor, of Benton also attended.

Meanwhile, those in Malvern -- including Kathleen Couch's dad, Bryan, and stepmom, Mandy -- were at the watch party. Public voting, which ended earlier Thursday, would decide the winner.

As waitresses scurried through the crowd announcing the type of pizzas -- Baked potato! Fajita! Buffalo chicken! -- on their trays, the tension mounted.

"I voted 70 times just yesterday," says Couch's aunt Tanya Shamhart, of Malvern. "When you've had Thanksgiving dinner with someone, it's hard not to be excited," she says of Harmon.

Couch had stayed in the background until her recent Hollywood trip for the finale, Mandy says.

"The reporters were all around him interviewing him and then he did this toward her," the stepmom says, making the outline of a heart with her hands. "They asked him, 'Who's that?' He said, 'That's my girlfriend from Arkansas.'"

Those attending the Malvern party included some of Couch's fifth-grade students who recalled how Harmon made a surprise visit to their school.

"He was inspiring," says Jacob Kuhn, 11. "He told us to never give up on our dreams."

"I thought it was awesome," adds Talon Cook, 11.

The day before the finale, Harmon posted a video message on Facebook, thanking his hometown of Amory, Miss., and his Arkansas friends.

When Harmon was announced as the winner, the crowd in Malvern rose and broke out in cheers.

Meanwhile, in Hollywood, an emotional Harmon hugged Renae, credited her with pushing him to work hard in the competition, sang "Fallen" and concluded with "Thank you, God."

SundayMonday on 04/10/2016

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