Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Sanni M’Mairura showed up on the American Idol stage in San Antonio flashing one of the brightest smiles we’ve seen and speaking a bit of Swahili at the judges’ request.

That’s because his mom’s from Tanzania and his dad is from Kenya.

But Sanni also impressed the judges with his take on Michael Jackson’s “Who’s Loving You.”

Nicki Minaj complimented him on what she called “a great, well-orchestrated audition.” And Keith Urban said he likes Sanni’s combination of “confidence and humility.”

Well, it’s not as though the lad from Pearland, Texas, is a novice, even though he is just 16. In his pre-audition interview, he mentioned that he’s been performing with a youth ministry group called The Noise.

Below are three videos of Sanni doing cover songs. If you want to hear more, you can head to his YouTube channel.

If you want to hear more from other Hollywood-bound contestants on American Idol, head here.

“Someone Like You”

“Firework”

“Don’t Judge Diamonds” (a mashup of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” and Chris Brown’s “Don’t Judge Me”)