The future looks oh-so-bright for the Latino competitors like Lazaro Arbos on American Idol this season…
Following two weeks of intense Sudden Death episodes in Las Vegas, Mariah Carey and her fellow Idol judges have picked their Top 20 girls and guys to advance to the next round on Fox’s hit singing competition.
This season five Latinos, including the 21-year-old Cuban American hopeful with a speech impediment who has consistently impressed judges since his first audition, have made it through.
Arbos, who performed Keith Urban’s “Tonight I Want to Cry,” was the last Latino to make it through. He was the only Hispanic singer in this Thursday’s Sudden Death round.
Nicki Minaj said Arbos played it safe “in a good way” and called his performance very truthful, while Randy Jackson said there’s a “sweet spot” in Arbos’ voice and it’s like no one else’s in the competition.
Earlier this week, Breanna Steer was the last Latina to make the cut following her performance of Jazmine Sullivan’s “Bust Your Windows.” The 18-year-old part-Honduran American singer impressed the judges with her powerful performance.
Minaj called her “sexy on a stick,” while Carey told her she though Steer was “extremely marketable and gorgeous and talented.”
Last week, Devin Velez and Elijah Liu survived their extremely competitive Sudden Death round to advance.
Velez, an 18-year-old Chicago native performed a bilingual version of Beyonce’s “Listen” that earned kudos from the judges.
Minaj called his decision to sing in English and Spanish a “smart choice,” making him more marketable.
Liu, an 18-year-old half-Mexican American singer from California, performed Bruno Mars’ “Talking To The Moon.”
The half-Mexican/half-Chinese American hopeful had Minaj declaring, “I would sign you today!”
The first Hispanic hopeful to advance in the competition last week was Tenna Torres. The 28-year-old Puerto Rican & African American singer performed Natasha Bedingfield‘s “Soulmate.”
Minaj praised Torres on her 1990’s R&B tone, while Urban called it “a beautiful song for you to do,” adding, “It’s also a deceptively big song that requires a lot of control, which you mostly had throughout that performance.”
The Top 20 will all perform next week, with the public vote set to decide their fate for the first time.
Here’s the complete list of the Top 20 Guys & Girls:
Adriana Latonio
Amber Holcomb
Angela Miller
Aubrey Cleland
Breanna Steer
Candice Glover
Janelle Arthur
Kree Harrison
Tenna Torres
Zoanette Johnson
Burnell Taylor
Charlie Askew
Cortez Shaw
Curtis Finch, Jr.
Devin Velez
Elijah Liu
Lazaro Arbos
Paul Jolley
Nick Boddington
Vincent Powell
