"Idol" thought #1:
Jordin - I like her, but I'm not wow'd by her. Her pitch never seems to be right on target to my ears. -Especially last night. She also has that bad habit of making her breathing "heard" in order to make it sound like she's working hard. -But, then again, that could also just be bad vocal technique. I did like her "I Who Have Nothing" a few weeks ago, but even then, sometimes her on-purpose breathiness got in the way of the pitch for me. And she doesn't seem to support her low notes - which is a common fault among many singers - "Hey, I'm in a comfortable part of my range, I don't have to work as hard." WRONG!
However - and even though Paula thinks "age" is irrelevant here - I do have to say that for someone as young as she is, she does have quite the set of pipes. It seems like she was born with a lot of natural talent. I just hope that whoever ends up guiding her career recognizes that and doesn't try to fix what ain't broke.* And biologically speaking, her voice won't fully mature until she's in her mid-20s - she's truly going to be Someone.
*-I mean, Barbara Cook never really studied voice formally, and now she gives masterclasses to aspiring young singers (abeit in song interpretation and not technique). -And she still sounds wonderful!