Ranking the sixteen most notable Georgians to ever appear on "American Idol", Rodney Ho of the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" placed Day in the twelfth spot. He wrote that Day's live rendition of "I'll Be", performed during the semi-finals, had "some tonal issues", but was mostly in key. In a 2013 retrospective feature by PopCrush, Cristin Maher wrote that Day displayed "sweet" and "smooth" vocals while on the series. "Boston Herald" writer Amy Amatangelo gained the impression that Day should have gone on further in the competition, after seeing his group medley performance in the first-season finale. A year after Day's run on "American Idol", Simon Cowell reflected, "Day could outsing Justin Guarini any day of the week, but he had just an average feel about him."