American Idol – Let’s Hear It For The Girls

I’ve taken to watching American Idol on Saturday mornings, because there’s too much good TV on Wednesday and Thursday for me to watch it live. Unfortunately, that means that I often know who was eliminated before I watch the performance show.

The themes this week were not the best. Burt Bahacarach and Hal David? I mean, that just doesn’t appeal to most of Idol‘s demographic, and it certainly doesn’t show us what kind of careers the singers would have. The second theme did the trick – songs they wish they had written.

If you’ve seen the shows, click through for a recap.

Angie Miller – “Anyone Who Had a Heart”
The judges focused on Angie’s lack of passion, and I have to agree. Angie sang beautifully, but the song was boring.

Amber Holcomb – “I Say A Little Prayer”
I loved this. Amber has a killer voice and confidence on stage. I don’t know why the voters don’t like this girl more, I think she’s fantastic.

Lazaro Arbos – “(They Long To Be) Close To You”
This was terrible. It was incredibly out of key, and uncomfortable to watch.

Kree Harrison – “What The World Needs Now Is Love”
I really like what Kree does with the songs she chooses. She made this one feel like she was performing it as an encore at her own concert, and it was really subdued and lovely.

Janelle Arthur – “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again”
This theme didn’t suit Janelle, and she didn’t do much to make the song fit her. This was cheesy and you could hear the insecurity in her voice.

Candice Glover – “Don’t Make Me Over”
Sadly, I know this song from Glee. That’s not something I’m proud of. But it’s a fantastic song and Candice Killed. It.

Angie Miller – “Love Came Down”
This was another Christian song, and Angie sat at the piano. It didn’t help that I didn’t know the song, but I just thought this was kind of boring. But maybe Angie will be a huge Christian star. This is what she’s good at and I knew the judges would love it. It’s just not my thing.

Amber Holcomb – “Love On Top”
I have been dying for Amber to sing Beyonce, and she picked my FAVORITE song. It’s also an incredibly difficult song. She didn’t sing it as well as Beyonce, but better than anyone I’ve seen on Idol before. She hit all the notes and kept up. I wish she’d had a little more energy but overall I thought it was very, very good.

Lazaro Arbos – “Angels”
I actually love this song, and Lazaro didn’t do the worst job. He has been in over his head in the competition for weeks, and for his level of talent this was a good enough performance. Unfortunately, he has never been Top 12, let alone Top 6, material.

Kree Harrison – “Help Me Make It Through The Night”
Kree might not have the biggest voice in the competition, but she is a fantastic classic country music singer. She’s so skilled, knows exactly what she should be doing, and I think she’s great. I really hope she makes a career out of this.

Janelle Arthur – “The Dance”
I’m not a Garth Brooks fan and didn’t expect to like this performance, but I quite enjoyed it – until the last note, which wasn’t great. Janelle isn’t at the level of the other women in the competition though.

Candice Glover – “Lovesong”
For days, I read on Twitter about how fantastic this performance was. No amount of hype could do this performance justice. HOLY CRAP. Nothing will ever be better than this. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen that combination of intense power and vocal restraint on this show. Also, I need a .gif of Mariah glitter-bombing Candice at the end of the performance, because it was amazing. And my heart melted a little when Candice cried after Randy said it was one of the best performances in the history of the show. Freaking. Fantastic.

Rankings:

  1. CANDICE
  2. Amber
  3. Kree
  4. Angie
  5. Janelle
  6. Lazaro

I was going to rank the rounds separately, but my results were the same both times. Candice is simply out of this world, and I’m personally a fan of Amber. I think song choices have solidified Kree’s place above Angie, and over the past couple weeks it has become clear that Janelle is the weakest of the remaining women.

Results

Well, I am very relieved that Lazaro was eliminated. It was long overdue, and seeing him go home over any of the remaining women would have been a crime. For the first time ever, we have an all-female top five! And a guaranteed female winner for the first time since Jordin Sparks.

I was shocked, though, that Amber was in the bottom two. Why don’t people like her? It has to be personality, not talent. Candice and Kree were in the top two, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this whole competition comes down to those two women.

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