Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Lots of American Idol watchers are comparing Adriana Latonio to Jessica Sanchez.

After all, they both are of Filipino descent. They both decided to try American Idol at a very young age. And they both have a penchant for power ballads.

Well, guess what?

Asked which past American Idol contestant is her favorite, Adriana doesn’t hesitate: Jessica Sanchez.

“I just feel like I can relate to her,” Adriana says. “I know she’s been working to be a popular singer for a while.”

Adriana was 16 when she tried out for Idol. Vegas-bound, she’s 17 now, making her one of just five of the final 40 contestants who are still minors.

But she’s been singing for quite a while.

“Ever since I was 2 years old, it was like you couldn’t get the mic out of my hands,” she told Idol.

Her YouTube account features a video of her opening a concert for Filipino singer Erik Santos when she was just 12.

She also sang in the Little Miss Fil-Am pageant, apparently finished first in the Great Alaskan Vocal Competition in 2010 and was first runner-up in Alaska’s Got Talent in 2011.

She’s a student at East High School in Anchorage, Alaska, and plays piano and guitar, according to one of her pre-performance interviews.

We’ve seen and heard very little of Adriana to this point on Idol, but it’s easy to familiarize yourself with her talent.

Just head to her YouTube page, where she has 20 performance videos posted, including a very impressive version of “Bleeding Love” from when she was just 12.

“Even though I’m young, I feel as confident as I’ve ever been,” she told Idol. “I just feel like I’m ready for this and this is my big break.”

Here are three of those videos of Adriana performing.

“A Song for You”

“Love on Top”

“Give Love a Try” and “One Last Cry”