Source: USA TODAY
Will American Idol voters cast off another guy for the fourth straight week? Will the judges use the save if they don’t? Find out tonight during the results show, which features returning alums Carrie Underwood and Casey James. Then sound off here. — Brian Mansfield
You know, if all I had seen of last night’s American Idol was tonight’s opening montage, I’d have thought Rock Night was a lot better than it actually was.
More than 25 million votes came in last night, says Ryan Seacrest. But before we find out who was on the short end of the voting, we’ll hear Carrie Underwood and Casey James.
Before that, though, the Top 7 sing Queen’s Somebody to Love, opening with a silhouetted shot that looks more like the group’s Bohemian Rhapsody video. Solid group effort, with a nice final run from — who else? — Candice Glover.
Results and performances start after the commercial break.
***
So tonight comes down to Janelle Arthur and Burnell Taylor. Think there might be a save in the offing? I could certainly see it. Even if it’s Burnell Taylor after that horrendous Bon Jovi cover, he’s got four fans in the judges, and it’d be nice to have a little more testosterone on the show for a while.
Does Mariah Carey have any last words of encouragement? “Whoever goes home is coming back for the tour, so that’s a very big, to me, that’s a very big deal. Regardless, you both know you can sing. You have star quality. You both know I love you. … You have given everything to this competition.”
And it’s Taylor. To try to fend off the save, he returns to India.Arie’s Ready for Love. Randy Jackson and Keith Urban seem to be the only two talking about the decision. Someone appears to have pushed the pause buttons on both Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.
The decision? No save for Burnell. So only a girl will get it.
***
Back to the screen for safe singers. Candice Glover’s good. No surprise there. And so’s Amber Holcomb. So Janelle Arthur and Burnell Taylor are in the Bottom 2.
Nicki Minaj’s reaction? “Burnell has won millions of people over,” she says. Whether he goes home or not, the show has changed his life. And she doesn’t think Janelle Arthur’s going home tonight. Whatever happens, “it’s a win, win, win, win.”
***
Carrie Underwood’s back, to premiere her new single See You Again. I’d forgotten how much I like the walk-up to that chorus. And the verse reminds me of Doris Troy’s Just One Look, which is never a bad thing. Also loving the way the song acknowledges sadness and grief yet turns it into a celebration.
And did you catch the little speed-clap while she was talking to Seacrest? Wonder if that’s where Angie Miller got it.
***
So we know Jimmy Iovine’s Top 3 consisted of Amber Holcomb, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison. Keith Urban chose the same group. As did Nicki Minaj, though she didn’t realize the list was going to be shared publicly. Randy Jackson also lists the same three, though he really wanted four, to put Candice Glover in there.
Mariah Carey’s the only dissenting vote, substituting Glover in MIller’s place.
So, basically, if Holcomb or Harrison is on the low end of the voting, they’re safe for sure. Frankly, Miller and Glover are likely also safe no matter what.
As for the public Top 3: That would be Kree Harrison … Angie Miller … and Lazaro Arbos.
Here’s a thought: That Top 3 was given in no particular order. Arbos might very well have been this week’s top vote-getter.
I feel a save coming on.
***
Season 9′s Casey James returns to perform his new single, The Good Life. He’s got that easygoing confidence in his delivery that none of this year’s contestants has mastered yet. It’s a catchy tune, too. Hope this performance gives it the kickstart it needs to make an impact.
James has brought gifts for the contestants, too, getting something from the finalists’ hometowns. He got homesick when he was on the show, he says, so he thought it’d be a nice thing to do.
Looks like the contestants will get good swag tonight, ’cause Carrie Underwood’s always known to bring gifts, too.
***
This week’s Ford challenge is to create fashion looks based on the finalists’ Idols. For Candice Glover, that’s Mary J. Blige. For Kree Harrison, it’s Patsy Cline.
Now it’s time to go to the game tape.
“I’m baffled by last night,” says Jimmy Iovine who can’t figure out why R&B and country singers couldn’t find good material in a genre that combines R&B and country.
Burnell Taylor “got it all wrong,” Iovine says. “He gave rock a bad name” singing like he was in a different time zone from the band. “At the very least, he’s in the Bottom 2.”
Iovine hated Lazaro Arbos and Angie Miller’s duet on Crazy Little Thing Called Love. “They just missed the point of the song.”
Kree Harrison, however, picked the right song, Piece of My Heart. “Could you imagine what it was like singing with a pinched nerve?” he wonders. He’s impressed with her poise and dignity under pressure.
Iovine liked Taylor better on The Letter — until Candice Glover blew him off the stage.
Janelle Arthur was “competent,” he says. “She’s really good; she’s a great performer. … I put her right in the middle.”
He didn’t like Arbos’ solo song as much as the judges, though he says he did a reasonable. Still, “I put him in the Bottom 2 or out.” Like that’s gonna happen.
As for the girl-group song? “You took three great soul singers and somehow made it sound like an outtake of Grease.”
Candice Glover covered a classic song in Satisfaction, but it didn’t give her the melody she needed.
Amber Holcomb is “improving every week.” And her legs even seem to be getting longer every week. Top 3 for Iovine.
Iovine calls Miller’s Evanescence cover “beautiful, confident.” But “there are times when Angie’s singing from her head, not her heart.” When she goes with her heart, she has “the chance to go all the way in this thing.”
“If America gets it right, there can only be one person going home tonight,” Iovine says. “And that’s Lazaro.”
So there.
***
Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.