Pia Toscano Our Favorite To Win American Idol 2011

No doubt this year's American Idol is stacking up to be a very tough one. There is so much raw talent in this year's Top 24 it's ridiculous. But without a doubt one young woman brought the house down tonight to a standing ovation. Her name? New York's very own Pia Toscano.

But before we wrap our heads around Ms. Toscano, let's listen to her Wednesday night performance of the 1994 classic, "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders.

You be the judge:

Does Pia have the goods? Tonight she portrayed charm, poise, and a wonderful soaring voice in front of a national audience for the first time. She definitely has Gods gift, an inner passion for singing and is our hands on favorite to win American Idol. Although throughout the last 10 years we've gone down this road before, only to be disappointed, we are biting our tongue.

Realizing this is only the first show of many to come in the weeks ahead, we are going to go out on a limb this year, and list (in order) our favorites of whom the finalists will be when all is said and done.

1. Pia Toscano
2. Thia Megia
3. Paul McDonald
4. Haley Reinhart
5. Tim Halperin

But it's hard to not favor Toscano. The 22 year old Howard Beach, New York native had a long road to get to the final 24. Toscano started singing and performing in talent shows at the young age of 4. When she was nine, she performed in local church presentations landing a role in Jesus Christ Superstar. Then, while attending LaGuardia high school, she sang the National Anthem at most of the school's sporting events. She was so good that the New York Mets' minor league baseball team, the Brooklyn Cyclones, signed her up to sing the National Anthem for their home games.

Her passion for singing and music carried over to performing in a local band called Current Affair.Music. Current Affair Music is a fantastic New York band that performs for corporate, weddings, and special events and it shows. One glance at the music clip, and you can see how versatile Pia truly is. Her voice is sweeping, magical, and so professional.

With encouragement by her father to audition for American Idol again (she made it to the 4th round in season 6), Pia made a big impression at this year's New Jersey venue. A big Whitney Houston fan, there's no doubt in our minds that Pia Toscano has what it take to make season 10 of American Idol all her own.

Pia Toscano Singing Paparazzi

Pia Toscano Singing Rehab

Pia Toscano Singing Just Dance

Pia Toscano and Current Affair Singing Since You Been Gone

About Kerry Kobashi

Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.