MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American Malaya Watson survived being in the bottom three for the second time this season on Thursday (Friday, April 4, in Manila) in American Idol despite being praised by the judges for her performance the previous night C.J. Harris and Sam Woolf were also in the bottom 3, but no one went home this week.

In this week’s performance, Malaya sang “Ain’t No Way,” by Aretha Franklin, the song she sang during the auditions in Detroit as part of the “Back to Start” theme.

Keith Urban praised her once again for “being in control” while Jennifer Lopez told the 16-year-old that she will go a long way.

“The great thing about this show, it’s not watching the growth from week to week. You had this voice right from day one. You just needed to just be with it. That was so with it tonight. You were in control. You’re fantastic, Malaya,” Keith said.

“You’re blossoming into this star right before our very eyes. You’re going to be such a huge star. You’re going to run away with this competition,” Jennifer said.

Judge Harry Connick Jr. meanwhile commended her for a good performance but reminded her to continue using the training she’s getting on Idol.

“That was really, really strong performance. You’re singing lyrics, you’re presenting, you’re entertaining, and you’re performing, You’re doing all of those things right. I’m just going to give you the same piece of advice I gave you last week.”

“You have such incredible access to such musicians and the vocal coaches. Get them to teach you when you sing runs. Make sure you learn the 12 notes in our tonal system. Learn them all. You can get there. I want to make sure that the runs you sing are perfectly in sync with the chords underneath you. You can do it. I wouldn’t waste my time if I didn’t think you don’t have the talent to do it. Work hard and keep doing what you’re doing. That was great,” he said.

This week’s performances also featured duets from the top 8. Watson also did a duet with Sam Woolf of the song “Lucky” by Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz, which was well-received by the audience.

However, Malaya did comment on Sam’s many female fans whom she says she felt were giving her the ‘evil eye’ during the performance. “I felt the tension with all those girls looking at me with the evil eye like ‘Ooh, you better back up. You better move,’” she told Hollywood Life.

Meanwhile, Sam Woolf was saved from elimination after the judges decided to use their save card, which preserves the current top 8. – Rappler.com