American Idol, Episode 33: "Top Four Perform (Redux)
What is happening? Didn't we already do this? We did, but we're going to do it again. Since the judges failed to use the save, no one was elminated and the top four ladies of American Idol, were given a redo. The ladies performed two songs. The first song was from 2013. Hallelujah!! I'm very happy to hear current songs. Next, Harry Connick, Jr, teamed up with the ladies to school them on how to sing standards. He also made a very strong case to become a full time American Idol judge next season.
Angie Miller opened the show, back at the piano, singing her take on Rihanna's "Diamonds." I was a fan of the song. I liked her at the piano. She sounded great. I liked the experimenation with the melody. Angie did kind of revert back to her cheesy ways. She smiled a little too much throughout the performance. About midway through, some guys on bongos joined in and that lent the performance a little bit of a cabaret type feel. The judges were not feeling it. I was not sure what they were talking about. They acted like "Diamonds" was some classic song that had a melody that couldn't be tampered with. I did not agree.
Amber Holcomb was next. She sang the P!nk and Nate Ruess duet, "Just Give Me A Reason." I was a little nervous for Amber. During her pre-performance package she admitted that she was having a hard time remembering the words. Luckily, when she started singing there were no forgotten lyrics. That is about the only positive thing I can say about Amber's performance. She sounded OK, but she was more stilted than usual when she was on stage. I'm not sure why she would pick this song and then just sing it so straightforwardly. There is no way a song like this would ever make it onto Amber's album.
Candice Glover made another surprising song choice for the second week in a row busting out Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man." I loved that Candice didn't change any of the lyrics. She was so emotionally connected to the song on every level. I was transfixed. Also, Candice steps up her style game every week and this was probably the best she has looked on stage so far. This was a current performance and I could hear Candice singing this on the radio. It was so good. I'm running out of superlatives for Ms. Glover.
Kree Harrison closed out round one with a song that Carrie Underwood performed on Idol a few weeks back, "See You Again." I really enjoyed t his performance. I agreed with Harry. I liked that Kree omitted the "oohs" that Carrie has in her version. You could tell that Kree was really feeling the performance. She emoted and I really connected with her. The judges were not fans. Who cares what they think?
The ladies moved to the complete opposite ends of the spectrum and sang classic pop standards with some great coaching from Harry Connick Jr.
Angie's second song was "Someone to Watch Over Me." Angie tried to interact with the band a little bit, doing some flirting with the guitar player. Angie is so wholesome, but it made me a little uncomfortable. The whole thing was a little sleepy, which is what I was afraid of when I heard they were doing standards. Vocally it was pretty much on point. Angie did struggle a little bit when she went into her lower register, which is something the judges have pointed out in the past.
I am very divided when it comes to Amber's encore. She trotted out "My Funny Valentine." This was the song that really made her a contender. When she sang this in Vegas, everyone stood up and took notice. I can understand why she would decide to sing it again, but I am still not a fan of singers singing the same song, unless it is in the finale. That being said, Harry Connick, Jr. gave Amber some fantastic advice. When she ran through the song and was smiling and kind of vacant looking, Harry asked her if she had ever read through the words to the song. Of course she hadn't. Harry had her read through the lyrics so she could really connect with the words. This advice did a world of good for Amber. This was probably her best performance of the season. She was really feeling it and was more connected to a song than she's ever been. Well done.
Harry kept giving good advice when it came time to coach Candice. She chose the song "You've Changed." His advice to Ms. Glover was to just sing the song. No unnecessary runs, no showboating, just sing. And sing the damn song she did! Candice delivered on all levels. She was serving vocals, poise and serious face. Another well deserved standing "O" for Candice.
Kree closed out the show with "Stormy Weather." This is where things sort of went off the rails all around. Kree's performance was not the great. It was stilted and she just seemed really uncomfortable with the whole thing. I think it all comes back to song choice. I was pleasantly surprised when Mariah said she would have loved to have heard Kree sing "God Bless the Child." I was thinking the exact same thing!! Randy started talking about how Kree should have sang a different version of the song and was kind of smack talking Harry. I couldn't believe that Randy had the audacity to try to criticize the way someone coached a vocalist. Talk about irony. At this point, Harry joined the judges panel to try to defend himself and pitch the idea of the contestants doing their own version of a song, rather than aping someone else's. Has he seen the show before? It's only good if the contestants are creative if that is what the producer's want. Duh. The whole thing was weird and took away from Kree, which was lame.
So, what did you guys think? Who was your favorite? Should HC,Jr become a full time judge? Light up the comments with your thoughts.
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