Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Emmy Russell performs Sunday night on the American Idol Top 20 show. (ABC Photo)

Perhaps Emmy Russell should be a part of any discussion of American Idol Season 22 front-runners.

The 25-year-old Nashville based artist has been trying to step out of the shadows of her famous grandmother, country great Loretta Lynn.

And she’s done an excellent job of establishing herself as a talented songwriter in her own right, performing three original songs already on Idol.

She performed two of those originals on Sunday’s Top 20 show (“Want You”) and Monday’s Top 14 show (“Skinny”).

They wound up being the most popular among the Idol performances, based on YouTube views.

And it wasn’t even close.

Here are the YouTube views of each singer’s performances over the last two nights of Idol. The counts were taken at 5 p.m. eastern time Saturday.

How indicative are they of a contestants’ popularity. I’m not sure. Will Moseley doesn’t rank high either night, but I have a feeling he’s on Idol for the long haul. That said, several of the contestants eliminated Monday night are near the bottom of the Sunday night list.

The Idol Top 14 return to the stage Sunday singing songs by Rock and Rock Hall of Fame artists. After two are eliminated, they’ll perform again Monday, singing Billboard #1 Hits.

And, don’t forget, live voting starts this week. So be ready to support your favorite between 8 and 10 p.m. eastern time.

See also …
Ranking the Top 14
Voting changes coming to Idol this week

Top 14 (Monday, April 15)

1. Emmy Russell, 184,773
2. Nya, 153,628
3. Roman Collins, 124,260
4. Abi Carter, 87,513
5. Julia Gagnon, 85,822
6. Triston Harper, 83,842
7. Kaibrienne, 74,916
8. Mia Matthews, 69,883
9. McKenna Breinholt, 67,618
10. Jayna Elise, 65,392
11. Will Moseley, 62,727
12. Jack Blocker, 45,619
13. Jordan Anthony, 43,581
14. Kayko, 39,970

Top 20 (Sunday, April 14)

1. Emmy Russell, 344,362
2. Abi Carter, 185,564
3. McKenna Breinholt, 166,756
4. Triston Harper, 121,241
5. Julia Gagnon, 104,840
6. Kaibrienne, 96,805
7. Roman Collins, 90,492 *
8. Mia Matthews, 74,128
9. Jayna Elise, 73,444 *
10. Will Moseley, 67,600
11. Odell Bunton, 60,985 **
12. Nya, 60,019 *
13. Mackenzie Sol, 58,643 **
14. Kayko, 57,402
15. Jordan Anthony, 50,000 *
16. Jack Blocker, 49,632
17. Ajii, 46,915 **
18. Kennedy Reid, 45,092 **
19. Quintavious, 45,217 **
20. Jennifer Jeffries, 34,216 **

* Judges save
** Eliminated Monday night