Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Steven Curd is hoping last year’s American Idol experience serves him well in Season 13.

We caught just a glimpse of the 18-year-old from San Antonio during Idol’s Austin auditions.

Steven Curd earned a golden ticket during American Idol’s Austin auditions. (FOX Photo)

But that’s enough to know that he’s off to Hollywood for a second straight year.

In an interview with FOX29 in San Antonio, he said the atmosphere in the audition room seemed much more relaxed with this year’s new judges.

He sang Mario’s “Let Me Love You” a cappella, which we didn’t see on TV. He also sang Amos Lee’s “Sweat Pea” while playing guitar.

Steven said he got yes votes from Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez, but a no from Harry Connick Jr., partly because he wasn’t impressed with Steven’s guitar-playing skills.

As for a return trip to Hollywood — “I know what to expect this year. I do what I need to do to do great.”

One key, Steven says, is to do something to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

That said, he admitted it’s a dogfight because everyone’s so talented.

Of course, another challenge is remembering lyrics during the group round in Hollywood. That’s what sabotaged him last year when his group performed Jason Aldean’s “Don’t You Want to Stay,” Steven recalls in this year’s Road to Hollywood video.

For musical influences, Steven points to Jack Johnson, Justin Nozuka and Jason Mraz — “people who are real laid back, but can carry a tune wherever they go.”

Since we didn’t get to see a whole lot of Steven’s audition on Idol, I’ve embedded some samples of his singing skills below.

If you’d like to follow him, here are links to Steven’s Facebook page and Twitter account (@stevencurd).

“What Makes You Beautiful”

“Titanium”