Did you guys catch American Idol this week? With four fantastic singers left in the race, any of the women would make a deserving winner. Click through for a quick recap of the performances.
Amber Holcomb – “The Power of Love”
This song was Amber’s choice, and while it wasn’t very fun it certainly showed off Amber’s voice. She’s so beautiful and talented, and has easily grown the most of anyone throughout this competition. Amber won’t win, but I hope she gets a record deal.
Candice Glover – “Find Your Love”
First of all, I love that Candice chose a song by Canada’s own Wheelchair Jimmy. The song, I thought, would appeal to tween voters but alienate older voters. And the interesting thing was, Candice’s version still felt a little old-fashioned. Nicki’s comments were spot on.
Kree Harrison – “It Hurt So Bad”
Kree does not have the biggest voice in the competition, but she’s fantastic at what she does and I’ve been expecting her to win for quite some time. What I love about Kree is that she can perform a song I’ve never heard before and I’ll love it. This was a great performance.
Angie Miller – “Who You Are”
Angie isn’t always my cup of tea, but she is very good – at everything. She knows when to look at the camera and when to look emotional. She’s a very good singer, she plays the piano, and she chooses the right songs for her voice and her fan base. And she looks like a star. Angie is ready to be a professional.
Amber and Kree – “Rumour Has It”
This was an interesting pairing, and I think the song and arrangement suited Amber a little more than Kree. They were both very good, though. These extra duets and group performances always feel a little less rehearsed than the songs contestants are being judged on, but in this case I think it showed Amber and Kree’s natural talent.
Candice and Angie – “Stay”
Neither Candice nor Angie has the edge of Rihanna, and this song choice was so bad for them. What makes this song great is the toned down background music and restrained vocals of Rihanna’s vocals. You can practically feel Rihanna’s desperation and pain in the original. This was just a shouting match. Good for Angie for keeping up with Candice, but I didn’t enjoy this performance.
Amber Holcomb – “MacArthur Park”
This song is a difficult one, every time it’s performed on Idol. The switch from slow to upbeat doesn’t come across well in a shortened song. This was the weakest performance Amber has had in a while, and I completely blame song choice. Her vocals were great.
Candice Glover – “Emotion”
How are these songs one hit wonders, anyway? I guess they were one hit wonders for other artists before being made famous by people like Donna Summer and The BeeGees. Candice kind of did the Destiny’s Child version, which is lovely, but it was a little dull. I don’t think she was able to put the “emotion”, for lack of a better word, into it that Beyonce does in that particular cover.
Kree Harrison – “A Whiter Shade of Pale”
This was a very good song, but was it different than what we’ve already seen from Kree? This felt a little old news to me. That said, I think Kree is so popular with the country contingent that there would have been no chance she’d be in the bottom two this week.
Angie Miller – “Cry Me a River”
I know this as a Barbra Streisand song, so again I thought “One hit wonder? What?” This was a weird theme week. It was a fantastic performance though, and Angie had such a good week that I knew she definitely wouldn’t be going home. Last week, I might have placed her in fourth place. But damn, she killed it on this performance.
Angie definitely rose to the top this week, while the other three women didn’t perform as well as they usually do. I still love Amber, but her first performance was much better than her second. Kree and Candice were both very good because they are excellent singers, but compared to previous weeks this wasn’t their night.
Anyway, because the Judges’ Save wasn’t used last week, no one was eliminated. We don’t even know who would have been eliminated, but Amber and Candice were in the bottom two. That’s unfortunate because I think they’re incredible, but at this point any one of these four women would be a deserving winner. What do you guys think?