Reviews, Television
Mar 26, 2013

AMERICAN IDOL: TOP 8 PERFORMANCES

With only 3 guys left the competition the pressure is really on the guys to step up and stop the bleeding. The question is will the guys be up to the task, or for the 3rd week in a row will one of the guys be heading home. Tonight’s theme will be “Music from the Motor City, Detroit”. The contestants have some great songs to pick from and as an added bonus Smokey Robinson will be a mentor tonight. It has the potential to be a great show let’s see how they did.

Candace Glover: starts off the show with a bluesy, edgy version of the Marvin Gaye classic, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” It was a great way to start the show and both the judges and the live audience loved the performance. Mariah Carey said, “In a lot of ways you epitomize what this competition is all about.” It was another strong showing by Candace and with this performance she solidified her position at the top of the competition.

Lazaro Arbo’s: gave another forgettable performance. His version of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life”, was weak and uneven. Oddly enough, Nicki Minaj loved the performance and said “Ricky Ricardo, you are definitely back”. The other judges didn’t agree. While I thought his performance was definitely better than the previous two weeks, he is significantly behind in the competition. The clock is ticking for Lazaro and it is just a matter of time before he goes home. If he isn’t in the “Bottom 2”, there needs to be an investigation!!!

Janelle Arthur: sang the Supremes hit, “You Keep Me hanging On.” When I heard she was going to sing this song I was really concerned. Just about everybody has sung a version of this song and I was wondering what she could do to make this performance memorable. In a pleasant surprise, Janelle absolutely killed it. The arrangement was completely different than anything I have heard and I thought it was her best performance of the competition. Randy loved it so much he warned the other contestants “To watch out for Janelle, she is in it to win it.” Janelle’s performances the last two weeks have been terrific. If she can keep building on this momentum she could find herself in a battle to get to the final 3. By the way, my all time favorite version of “You Keep Me hanging On”, is the psychedelic rock version by “Vanilla Fudge.”

Devin Velez: in what was probably his best performance of the contest, Devin sang a real good version of “The Tracks of My Tears”, by Smokey Robinson. The question is will it be enough to keep him in the competition. He has been in the “Bottom 2”, two weeks in a row and obviously doesn’t have a big fan base. While Lazaro certainly deserves to go home Devin could find himself singing for his American Idol life tomorrow night.

Burnell Taylor’s: looking all dapper in white suit, Burnell sang a good version of the Stevie Wonder hit, “My Cherie Amour,” He looked relaxed and confident and his vocals were good. Like I said last week, Burnell is obviously the best male singer left in the competition. Unfortunately he can’t compete with any of the remaining girls. While I expect him to survive another week, he is living on borrowed time.

Angie Miller: this week Angie hit a speed bump. Her performance of “Shop Around”, by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles was her worst of the competition. That being said, it was still better than all of the guys and overall I would put her in 4th place for the evening. More than her performance, I thought that the song choice was the problem. Some of the people I watched the show with had never heard of the song and it didn’t allow Angie to show off her incredible range and singing abilities. Unfortunately, I thought the judges were over critical of her performance and I had flashbacks to Season 11 and Hollie Cavanagh. Either way it doesn’t matter. Angie won’t be going home this week. She did enough to remain in the competition and if she gives a good performance next week, with her looks and voice she can still win this thing.

Amber Holcomb: looking stunning, Amber sang a beautiful version if Stevie Wonder’s “Lately.” The judges loved her performance and Randy said, “By far for me, that was the best vocal of the night.” Amber was really good last night and two of the last three weeks you could argue that her song performances were the best of the night. She’s a contender.

Kree Harrison: sang “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)”, by Aretha Franklin. It was a terrific performance and a great way to end the show. Randy Jackson said, “You got that Kree love in the building.” She certainly did. Kree has been consistently good every time she sings. Jimmy Iovine said it best last week, “that Kree is the most versatile performer in the contest and with her voice she can’t sing anything.” If she can keep this up she will be very hard to beat!!!

For the third week in the row the girls dominated the night. In my opinion the “Top 3” singers were Janelle Arthur, Amber Holcomb and Kree Harrison. The “Bottom 3” singers (all guys) were Burnell, Devin Velez and Lazaro Arbos. Burnell did enough to earn another week. Unfortunately, Devin and Lazaro both deserve to go home and I wish we could send both of them home this week!!! In conclusion the remaining women in the competition are probably the best we have ever had and this contest is going to going to become very interesting once we eliminate the guys.

American Idol Odds and Ends

• In a conference call, American Idol judge, Nicki Minaj was asked if there was any chance that a boy could win “American Idol”, this year. She quickly responded “No.” I agree, there are only 3 boys left and I don’t expect any of them to make it to the “Top 4.”

• When Paul Paul Jolley was eliminated from “American Idol”, he said “I wasn’t surprised to hear my name called tonight. I had a moment when I woke up this morning and I realized like, this is what is going to happen.”

• Season 5 contestant Katharine Mc Phee will team up with One Republic to sing their new song “I Lose Myself.” Season 11’s Colton Dixon is also scheduled to perform.

• Judge Keith Urban is scheduled to perform his hit single “Long Hot Summer.”