The little country redhead who’s earned her stripes and the name ‘Little Reba’ on this season of ‘American Idol‘ stuck to her guns this week, chose her own song and ended up wowing the judges. Laine, who brought it last week with Whitney Houston‘s ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go,’ had to perform a song this week from the year she was born: 1994.

She went into her mentoring session with will.i.am and label executive Jimmy Iovine confidently proclaiming that she wanted to cover Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Love Sneakin’ Up on You,’ and when they tried to talk her into Shania Twain or someone else, she didn’t budge.

Other contestants on tonight’s show were criticized pretty harshly for their choice of songs, even when they were steered astray in the mentoring session. Before stepping onto the stage and into the spotlight, Laine admitted she was a little more nervous than normal, joking with the judges, “Y’all are being mean,” adding that the contestants were taking it well backstage and she hadn’t seen any tears yet.

When the spotlight did hit her, Laine strutted her stuff, descending down a set of steps at the back of the stage and then coming to the front with attitude. In her leather jacket and giant sparkling hoop earrings with her long, red hair looking stunning in loose curls, the young singer used the stage like a playground. She was hitting the keyboard player on the shoulder and marching around like a seasoned star. Though it seemed like her string of three background singers at times took away from the ability to hear her voice clearly, she more than pleased the judges.

Steven Tyler said “I haven’t heard you sing a bad song yet,” adding that he loves Laine’s country flair. “Baby, I know you said we’re being mean today,” Jennifer Lopez began. “If I gotta keep it real, I gotta say that you really killed that. I didn’t love that the song didn’t have more of a chorus … But you still did your thing.” Randy Jackson then classified Laine as “our rockin, in-house country girl,” saying “Guess what? Didn’t matter about the song … You came out and rocked it.”

Watch Skylar Laine Perform ‘Love Sneakin’ Up on You’ on ‘American Idol’

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