'American Idol' Season 18: Kimmy Gabriela's performance in Hawaii revives fans' faith in her beautiful voice
'American Idol' Season 18 returned for Episode 12 on Sunday night (April 19). Tonight, apart from witnessing unseen footage from the Top 20 contestant's previous performances, we will also see the results of America's first voting process.
After the Top 40 performed in Hawaii and were whittled down to Top 20, the judges had a tough time deciding between Grace Leer and Lauren Mascitti. So they left the decision to fans. Fans were asked to vote online for their favorite contestant who they think should return and be one amongst the Top 20. With 'American Idols' first-ever Remote Edition set to air live from next week, tonight the series will reveal who moved on to the Top 20 after winning the highest number of votes.
Prior to the reveal, the series continued with Part 2 of 'This is Me', that features unseen footage of contestants that advanced to the Top 20. One amongst them is Kimmy Gabriela, who is clearly one amongst the frontrunners this season. During her audition, the judges called Kimmy Top 10 material. Kimmy's idol is her father, who was also a performer and used to tour when he was younger.
With an incredible range, without a doubt, she impressed the judges and advanced to the qualifying rounds. Though she had some trouble with her duet performance in Hollywood Week, she managed to make it through and reached the Top 40.
After performing in Hawaii, Katy Perry told Kimmy, she needs to improve and make them remember her performance, especially since she is in the Top 20 now. Kimmy even prior to her time on 'American Idol' had been uploading videos of her singing. She also has quite a good number of followers on Instagram, over 97,000. She also posted her original song on Instagram titled, 'Before You Go' dedicated to her best friend who is in the military.
Watching footage of Kimmy's performance again, fans on Twitter say the contestant has a beautiful voice. "Kimmy has such a beautiful voice and I love the relationship between her and her father," a fan wrote. While another added, "No kidding. Kimmy's gonna kill it. #AmericanIdol."
"#AmericanIdol Kimmy is a fighter," a fan wrote. Adding to that another said, "Calling my shot. I’m taking Kimmy Gabriela to win it all on #AmericanIdol." Another added, "Ok Kimmy absolutely KILLED that!!!!!! #AmericanIdol."
'American Idol' Season 18 airs every Monday night only on ABC. Check your local listings for more information.