Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tenna Torres was the mystery woman on Season 11 of American Idol.

Somehow, she made it to the Vegas round without us ever hearing her sing.

In fact, I think the only time we heard her name was the night she was eliminated.

This year, Idol corrected that in a heartbeat. The 28-year-old pop singer from Queens was the very first recipient of a golden ticket on the premiere episode of Season 12.

Of course, her back-story might have helped win her that distinction.

Tenna told Idol she started listening to Mariah Carey music when she was 5. At age 13, she attended Camp Mariah for aspiring singers and actually got to sing for her idol.

And she took photos along to prove it at her New York audition, photos she shared with Mariah.

But for Tenna, the best was yet to come. Her version of “You’ve Got a Friend” brought Mariah to tears. Because it was so good.

Said Mariah: “If we could have someone like this come out of Idol Season 12, I would personally be very proud.”

Tenna told NBC Latino she had to watch the moment back when the episode aired to make sure it really happened.

“It was just an incredible experience,” she recalled.

That said, Tenna also admitted disappointment with the outcome of Season 11 and said she had to be convinced to try out again by her mom and best friend.

“But what’s the worst that could happen? I’ve been performing for years and I’m confident in who I am as an artist.”

Confident enough to declare that she delivers “dynamite vocals in killer stilletos” on her Facebook music page.

These days, Tenna performs at casinos and venues around New York, according to NBC Latino, which also says she attended a high school for the performing arts and studied jazz at Howard University.

Her music is mainstream pop. Check out “Good Nite 2 Die Hard” below. It’s a single she released to iTunes last year following her Idol elimination.

“I’ve been doing this for a while,” Tenna says in her Road to Hollywood video, noting that she also writes songs. “I feel like I know what my sound is, what I’m capable of doing with my voice. I’m confident in knowing what I want.”

Here are three videos of Tenna’s music. For more, go here and here.

“Cried A Lot”

“Good Nite 2 Die Harrd”

“Officially Missing You”