Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Hannah Harper performs during Hollywood Week for American Idol (ABC Photo)

Don’t look now, but an early favorite is emerging on American Idol.

Based on YouTube views, Hannah Harper scored the most popular performance from the show’s first Hollywood Week episode.

As of just before midnight Friday, Hannah’s cover of Lee Ann Womack’s “A Little Past Little Rock” had been viewed more than 168,000 times on the site.

Only one other singer, Keyla Richardson, had topped the 100,000 mark.

And no contestant besides Keyla had half as many views on their Hollywood Week performance as Hannah.

Hannah, the 25-year-old mother of three from Willow Springs, Missouri, plucked heartstrings during her audition with an original called “String Cheese.”

Her audition was also the most popular video from the night it aired.

Keyla, 29, of Pensacola, Fla., also turned in a very solid performane on Monday’s show, singing “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz.

As an added bonus, her son watched from Carrie Underwood’s seat at the judges’ table and critiqued the performance.

Views from the videos the show posted to YouTube are listed below. Note that the show did not post videos of all the performances that aired Monday night.

Hollywood Week concludes Monday night when viewers will learn which 30 singers advance from the 127 who received golden tickets.

Check back Monday for a live blog with song by song grades.

See also …
Who we’ll see Monday on American Idol
Song by song grades on the first night of Hollywood Week

Video views from Monday, Feb. 23 show:

Hannah Harper, 168,555
Keyla Richardson, 132,876
Braden Rumfelt, 78,094
Chris Tungseth, 58,551
Philmon Lee, 55,814
Bryant Thomas, 53,528
Chloe Lauren, 44,516
Makiyah, 38,562
Jake Thistle, 36,139
Roelle, 31,420