AMERICAN IDOL's Keith Urban Picks Angela Miller as Early Favorite

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American Idol judge Keith Urban spoke to reporters by phone this afternoon and singled out contestant Angela Miller as an early frontrunner.

The final 40 contestants began performances last night for this season's Las Vegas rounds, but it was Millers performance of her original song "You Set Me Free" during last week's Hollywood Rounds which piqued the country star's interest. "If you've got something you feel comfortable with -- certainly in Angela's case, she had the confidence to perform a song like that. It was superb," says Urban. "I like getting to see another side of who they are. Obviously, if they write a song, [that song] speaks a lot to the kind of person they are."

WATCH MILLER'S PERFORMANCE HERE!

Asked who else he felt had a good shot at taking the title, Urban replied, "I still think it's too soon to tell, only because it's extraordinary what can happen from week to week, positive and minus." He continued, "I've watched people emerge unexpectedly ... it can go the other way too, where they sing and we're like, 'Hmm, didn't quite get there tonight.' It's far too soon to get any sort of frontrunner ideas."

However the new judge did admit that he feels it's time for a girl to win the competition. "All I can say is at least from what we just saw last night, it's absolutely a girl's year to win, in my opinion," says Urban. "It's not to say the guys aren't strong, but it's a testament to how strong the Girls are ... the Girls were just incredibly strong this year."

"American Idol" airs Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.