Reviews, Television
Apr 20, 2013

AMERICAN IDOL: TOP 5 PERFORM- WOMEN TAKE ALL

Photo Credit, FOX

With five talented girls left, the real American Idol contest starts tonight. While all five remaining girls have a chance to win, in reality it is a three person race between Candace Glover, Kree Harrison, and Angie Miller. The five men that made it to the “Top 10,” were the worst group of “Top 10” contestants in the history of American Idol. Confirming that fact, all five men were eliminated in succession. Tonight, for the second week in a row, each contestant will sing twice and there will be two themes.

The first theme will be “Songs from the year of their birth”, and the second theme will be “Diva’s.” Let’s see how they did!!!

Candace Glover: opened up the show with a laid back and cool version if Paula Abdul’s, “Straight up.” It was completely different from any version I have ever heard. The audience loved it and so did the judges. Randy Jackson said “He loved the arrangement and that Candace was the one to beat, it was a great vocal”. Mariah said “It was unpredictable and a great song choice.” I don’t care what Candace does with her second song, she will definitely be back for another week. For her second song, Candace sang “When You Believe,” by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. This was good song choice by Candace and she did a beautiful job. Her voice was smooth and silky when she needed it and big and strong when she had to have it. With two strong performances, Candace is definitely one of the top singers in the contest.

Janelle Arthur: sang a pleasant version of Vince Gill’s, “When I Call Your Name.” With the exception of Keith Urban all of the judges really loved the performance. While Keith thought her voice was good he said he didn’t feel the emotion and the heartbreak of the song. I agreed with Keith. To me it was kind of boring. While I like Janelle, in my estimation she is the weakest of the five remaining contestants. Tonight she needed a big performance and this wasn’t it. Janelle needs a “Wow”, performance for her second song if she wants to remain in the contest for another week. For her second song, Janelle sang “Dumb Blonde.” This is a good song but it wasn’t the “WOW”, performance that Janelle desperately needed to remain in the contest. Despite her popularity Janelle is my favorite to go home this week.

Kree Harrison: sang a great version of “She Talks to Angels,” by the Black Crowes. It was a great song choice and enabled Kree to show the incredible range of her voice. To me it was the best performance of the night so far. I usually cringe when I hear the judges say that a singer can sing anything, but in Kree’s case it is true. She is truly special and has been the most consistent performer in the contest. Looking beautiful, Kree sang “Have You Ever Been in Love”, for her second song. After another strong performance Kree will definitely be coming back for another week.

Angie Miller: sang a strong version of the Pretender’s, “I’ll Stand By You.” I absolutely loved both the song choice and the performance. The judges agreed. In recognition of her performance the judges gave her a standing ovation. It is obvious that Angie is at her best when she is playing the piano and she proved that again tonight. For her second song, Angie sang “Halo,” by Beyonce. When I first heard the song choice I was concerned, but Angie quickly dispelled those fears. She delivered another strong performance and for the second time tonight, the judges gave her a standing ovation. This was easily Angie’s best night of the contest and she definitely won the night!!! Angie has been my personal favorite throughout the contest and after tonight I will be absolutely shocked if she isn’t in the finale.

Amber Holcomb: For her first song Amber sang Mariah Carey’s cover of “Without You.” Amber started off slow and as the song progressed she got better. Unfortunately, she didn’t do enough and her performance left me wanting more. While she tried her best, overall for me, her performance was a disappointment. Her performance received mixed reviews from the judges. For her second song, Amber sang Barbara Streisand’s “What Are You Doing For The Rest of Your Life.” Looking absolutely stunning I thought her performance was absolutely terrific. It was easily the stronger of her two performances. Unfortunately, many of the young American Idol fans won’t recognize this song and the difficulty required to sing it. For this reason I expect Amber to be in the “Bottom 2” this week. While Amber was definitely better than Janelle this week Amber could still be in trouble this week.

Last week it was all about Candace Glover. This week it was all about Angie Miller. I thought she had her best night of the competition and easily won the night. Both Candace and Kree had strong nights and I expect them to be in the “Top 3.” Like I predicted last week, I expect Amber and Janelle to be in the “Bottom 2,” this week. While Janelle’s deserves to go home you can never be sure how the voting will go.

American Idol Odds and Ends

• Former American Idol Contestant Clay Aiken (Season 2) and American Idol Champion Fantasia (Season 3) are scheduled to perform in tomorrow night’s results show.

• I like Jimmy Iovine’s between performance reviews. While the judges disagree I think his comments are usually right on target.