"American Idol" has announced its Top 10 finalists for Season 12. Among them was Angela Miller, who quickly became the frontrunner in the competition during the Solo Round of Hollywood Week when she performed her own song, "You Set Me Free." The judges were so mesmerized that mechanically waved her through her Top 40 performance (which was so-so at best). But her Top 20 performance wowed the judges -- and apparently viewers as well -- as she moved into the Top 10 Thursday evening (March 7) on the back of a strong rendition of "Idol" alum Colton Dixon's "Never Gone."
It leaves one wondering: Can Angela Miller's momentum be stopped? Is there anyone that can knock her off?
Simply put: Yes. There are nine other contenders. Most have stronger voices than Angela, including all four remaining female contestants, who also appear to suffer no shortage of judges' praises. But here's the thing: Angela has presence and she already seems to have a connection with the viewing audience. She certainly has one with the judges (they even stood up to give her a standing ovation for her weak and off-key rendition of Beyonce's "I Was Here," which was supposedly her "victory" song). And professional oddsmakers have deemed her the finalist with the best odds of winning.
Bovada.com, which tracks odds on sporting and special events, placed Angela at the top of the Top 20. As the competition enters the Top 10 performance week, she remains there.
Her closest competition, both then and at present, appears to be Kree Harrison among the girls (and with the oddsmakers), who has shown no loss of control. Over in the social media arena, Kree also places second to Angela (among the women), the contestants' new Twitter accounts the only two with followers in double digits. However, in that medium, Lazaro Arbos has nearly ten thousand more followers than Kree, but over 13,000 less than Angela.
She's definitely got a fan in former "Idol" finalist Colton Dixon, who told Brian Mansfield at "Idol Chatter" that she "killed it," referring to her Tuesday evening performance, and that she seemed "head over heels above everyone else." He also took to Twitter to let the world know how impressed he was.
Dixon, who wrote the song, said he'd first heard Angela's version of "Never Gone" on YouTube and left her a message to "keep it up," noting that he had no idea she'd be headed to "Idol." He's even had people tell him that her YouTube performance competes with his version for their favorite.
Chris Rogers at Hollywood Life already has her winning the season as well. He said as much after her Top 20 performance: "There’s no reason to choose any other contestants for the top 20, we already have our winner — Angela Miller!"
Still, we've seen frontrunners fall before. In fact, Colton himself had just become a frontrunner during last season's "Idol" run when he got eliminated in seventh place. As soon as he got there, though, he was eliminated.
Over the years, frontrunners getting eliminated have shocked audiences. Tamyra Gray. Chris Daughtry. Pia Toscano. So Angela's road to the finale is not guaranteed. Not by a long shot.
But she certainly looks as if she could win it right now...
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