Filipino-American Adriana Latonio has survived the Top 40 Las Vegas Round of American Idol Season 12. The 17-year-old diva from Alaska wowed the judges with her rendition of the Aretha Franklin hit Ain't No Way, earning her a spot at the American Idol 2013 Top 20 semi-finalists.
In the episode shown Wednesday (Thursday morning in Manila), 10 out of the 20 girls belonging to the Top 40 performed during the "Sudden Death" round. Half of the girls were eliminated while the other half advanced in the competition.
All the judges—Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj— were impressed by the petite Fil-Am singer telling Adriana that she's ready to conquer the stage. Adriana is one of the three hopefuls with Pinoy blood in the American Idol 2013 Top 40. The other two are Bridget "Jett" Hermano and Bryant Tadeo.
Along with Idol hopefuls Teena Torres, Kree Harrison, Angela Miller and Amber Holcomb, Adriana Latonio will advance to the “Sing For Your Votes” round of the competition. Joining them are Charlie Askew, Elijah Liu, Paul Jolley, Curtis Finch Jr, Devin Velez and 10 others to be determined on next week's episode.
Watch Adriana Latonio's performance of Ain't No Way below:
Photo courtesy of USA Today