After last week’s American Idol result show revealed that none of the contestants would be eliminated, this week The Top 4 ladies (Amber Holcomb, Angie Miller, Kree Harrison, and Candice Glover) are all back again.
The song theme for tonight is “Then and Now.” The theme is specifically dissected into two rounds. The “then” theme is “standards” while the “now” theme is “songs of 2013.” This week’s guest mentor is Harry Connick Jr.
Let’s dig deeper into each contestants Performance in Round 1’s “Songs of 2013”
Angie Miller performs Rihanna’s “Diamonds”
We weren’t so thrilled about the song choice. It’s not a type of song that really showcased Angie’s incredible vocals. Her performance was so disconnected. She tried to infuse a few high note moments, but it sounded to forced and ultimately fell flat. Yes, Angie is a great singer, but this performance just did not work.
Keith Urban states: “I commend you doing an original take on that song by changing the arrangement, but I didn’t feel that this is the song to do that to. I was waiting for it to happen, but it didn’t happen. Melodically you wanted to go to places and you would go for a moment and come back down again. You should be soaring through out.”
Nicki Minaj describes Angie’s performance as “bland and lackluster” and admits to believing that Angie can do a lot better. She explains, “You were making more contact with the audience. You were trying to boost the performance more with your body and less with your heart.”
Randy Jackson says Angie made an interesting song choice. He also agrees with Keith in that it was not a song that really supports her changing the arrangement. He explains, “There was no were to go. I didn’t love it.”
Mariah Carey states: “I do feel you tried to take it to another place, but you were playing to the camera more than the usual ‘playing piano’ Angie, who gets lost in the moment.”
Amber Holcomb performs “Just Give Me A Reason” by P!nk & Nate Ruess
Although Amber gave a solid vocal, she seemed more focused on remembering the lyrics to the song, which disabled her from emotionally connecting to the lyrics.
Nicki says, “The voice is there, but this particular performance didn’t seem you were connecting all the way through. Do a better job of bringing back the girl who people love, into your performances.”
Randy says, “I could tell in your spirit you weren’t having fun, something’s a little different this time. That was not so stellar.”
Mariah emphasizes the point that it does need to be stellar at this point, but acknowledges how difficult it is to learn a current song like this.
Keith Urban agrees saying, “This song has extraordinary intervals that are unforgiving. It’s a lot to handle with the tempo and trying to remember the words. He further states: “I love the clarity and bell in your voice.”
Candice Glover performs “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars
Candice really brought it tonight! She gave us the goosebumps on this performance. She did a spectacular job in really telling the story within the song as she sang with such power and conviction. OMGOSH and that ending, UM HELLO, it was vocal perfection.
Randy declares, “This is a singing competition, if you can sing, you can sing anything. Congrats that was AMAZING.”
Mariah says, “I must agree, Candice knows how to take any song and has the musicality to change it and sing it in a way that suits her.”
Keith Urban says, “When you sing like that you can sing ‘when I was your giraffe’ and it still wouldn’t matter. When you sing that good, that’s a winning performance right there.”
Nicki Minaj explains, “That performance deserves a standing ovation. Today you gave me every single thing I was talking about last week in terms of me seeing you as a current R&B artist. You sang that song like it was your own song that was written for you, and you were performing for your own fans. You committed fully.”
Kree Harrison performs “See You Again” by Carrie Underwood
Kree gave a very pretty and authentically raw vocal. A definite improvement from last week’s performance.
Mariah says, “I felt you were very connected. You were being you and delivering the soul you have within you. I enjoy you so much because of how authentic you are.”
Keith remarks, “It’s hard to figure out how to do these songs. It’s a power ballad and there was a conflict between what I’m feeling and what I’m seeing. However, your voice is faultless.”
On the other hand, Nicki says, “I loved my Kreedom performance, you sang with your eyes, you absolutely were connected. You stayed true to who you are.”
Randy says, “At this point in the competition, I’m really now focused on the voice and you got an amazing voice. That was a great vocal. I love the sound of your voice. Carrie Underwood is a good country diagram of where you could go.”
We declare Candice Glover as the Winner of Round 1!
Round 2: Standard Songs From Back In The Day
Angie Miller performs “Someone to Watch Over Me” by Gertrude Lawrence/Ella Fitzgerlald
Angie’s second performance was definitely better than her first. This performance reminded us of the broadway-esque feel to Angie’s voice.
Keith states: “You sang it so beautifully. The song choice didn’t matter to me. The timbre presence in your voice is beautiful.”
Nicki pronounces, “The way you look and your voice reminds me of a Disney performance like Beauty & The Beast. You do have a Broadway type voice. Every time you do the high notes you are in it, just get the beginning to that level as well.”
Randy says, “I did not love the arrangement, but the great thing is if you can sing, you can sing anything. That was an amazing vocal.”
Mariah says that she sees Angie feeling comfortable with a theatrical based song, but she says she also loves Angie with the piano as well. She reminds Angie to remember to sing from her heart throughout her performances.
Amber Holcomb performs “My Funny Valentine” by Mitzi Green/Chet Baker (Reprise)
Even though we have already heard Amber sing this song, we actually didn’t mind that she chose to sing it again. She gave an absolutely stunning vocal and received a standing ovation by all the judges.
Nicki Minaj calls Amber a “beautiful budding red rose.” She specifically says, “That was so beautiful! OMG, from the set, to your outfit, to your poise. You’re a superstar! No matter what happens, you have a life time ahead of you to make musical moments for yourself.”
Randy says, “How you ended that song was absolutely unbelievable. You slayed it this time. That was stellar!”
Mariah concurs as she states: “Tonight that spirit you have is bigger and better than ever before, Thank you Amber!
Keith says, “The audience went crazy when you hit that run and from that point on your performance was stellar.”
Candice Glover performs “You’ve Changed” by Billie Holiday
Once Again, Candice Glover steals the show! The beautiful juxtaposition between her jazzy/blusey tone to her raspy texture is pure and utter perfection. She took her time with the song and once again really delivered the story embedded within the song.
We go nuts every time we hear her sing and this performance was no exception. Candice received a standing ovation for this performance as well. From the moment she steps on that stage and opens her mouth to sing, she makes the rest of the contestants look like amateurs.
Randy announces, “Candice is in it to win it. That was a great amazing vocal. It’s about feeling what you sing and you did just that. That was stellar. Be you, speak your truth girl! That was amazing.”
Mariah declares, “There is no critiquing needed for that. I’m going to download that ASAP. I love you with these type of chord changes. Thank you for this performance.”
Keith reiterates about the greatness of the performance and mentions how he loves seeing the way Mariah watches Candice perform.
Even Host Ryan Seacrest chimed in saying how much he loved her performance!
Kree Harrison performs “Stormy Weather” by Ethel Waters/Gladys Knight
Honestly, we were still recovering from Candice’s previous performance, so it was a tad hard to focus on Kree!
Although Kree’s vocal was spot on, we weren’t really feeling the song choice. It was a tad on the boring side, but Kree did have some lovely vocally shining moments.
Mariah wasn’t so sure about the song choice, but she describes Kree’s vocal as “clear as a bell.”
Keith thinks Kree should have chosen a different song and reminds her to follow her instincts and not let anybody get into her head.
Nicki emphasizes the importance of song choice. She says at this point you need to know what is organic to you. She specifically states: “Song choice means so much, I wish you would have focused on that.”
Randy also stresses the importance of always sticking to who Kree is, but he still thinks Kree did a good job.
Once again, we gotta declare Candice Glover the winner of Round 2! She owned the night. We will be shocked if she does not make it to the top 3!
Who was your favorite tonight? We want to know! Leave your thoughts below!
Photo Credit: Michael Becker/ FOX
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