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‘American Idol’: Who soared, who stunk?

Source: USA TODAY

Here’s the deal: A girl’s going to sing for her survival on American Idol Thursday. And the judges are going to save her. Now, Lazaro Arbos is the one who should be going home. His performance of The Carpenters hit Close to You was so bad the judges told him that when his song changes key, he’s not supposed to stay in the old one.

In fact, they ripped into the poor kid so hard — stopping just short of flat-out saying, “It’s time for you to go home” — that they probably motivated his sympathetic fans to vote even harder for him.

And, so, a girl will find herself at the bottom of this week’s voting. And it doesn’t matter which one, because the judges will save her.

If they don’t, they run the risk of creating a scenario next week where Arbos does get voted off and the judges are forced to save him to keep the show on schedule. And nobody’s going to let that happen.

On Wednesday’s show, the Top 6 got two songs: One that they wished they had written, and one that Burt Bacharach and Hal David had written.

The Bacharach/David songs came first, with few surprises, from either the standpoint of song choice or arrangements. Candice Glover and Amber Holcomb came out on top during the first half of the show, but all the women gave strong performances.

And none of them held a candle to Glover’s stunning show-closer, a rendition of The Cure’s Lovesong, which, though channeled through Adele’s cover, became what Randy Jackson called “one of the greatest performances on any talent show, ever.” And, for once, he wasn’t exaggerating.

The second half of the show, where the singers picked songs they wish they had written, showcased, better than any other theme thus far in the season, the kind of artists these singers want to become.

Angie Miller wants to be a contemporary Christian singer, probably one who crosses over. But when she sat at the piano and sang Kari Jobe’s Love Came Down, easily the night’s least-known song, Nicki Minaj saw a potential winner. “This is the only time when you are going to be remembered at that top of the pack,” Minaj told her. “I don’t know why you want to run away from it. … Don’t stray from that. When you do that, you do something all the other girls can’t do.”

Kree Harrison and Janelle Arthur both want to be country singers — Arthur, a sweet-faced down-home girl, Harrison an artistic song stylist in the vein of Trisha Yearwood. Her version of Kris Kristofferson’s Help Me Make It Through the Night had Keith Urban predicting future membership in the Grand Ole Opry.

Amber Holcomb, who sang Love on Top, wants to be the new Beyonce.

Glover? Glover just wants to be a singer. In the very best sense of the word.

And Arbos? By the end of the night, he just looked like he wanted the nightmare to end. American Idol has already changed the ice-cream scooper’s life. But with every week he continues on the show, he becomes more damaged goods. It’s time for him to go home, while he still has a shot at a post-show career.

Here’s how I rank tonight’s performance:

  • Candice Glover, Lovesong
  • Candice Glover, Don’t Make Me Over
  • Kree Harrison, Help Me Make It Through the Night
  • Amber Holcomb, I Say a Little Prayer for You
  • Angie Milller, Love Came Down
  • Kree Harrison, What the World Needs Now Is Love
  • Amber Holcomb, Love on Top
  • Angie Miller, Anyone Who Had a Heart
  • Janelle Arthur, I’ll Never Fallin Love Again
  • Janelle Arthur, The Dance
  • Lazaro Arbos, Angel
  • Lazaro Arbos, Close to You
  • Who’s in danger: Janelle Arthur probably gets the fewest votes but gets the save. Lazaro Arbos is the only singer the judges will let go home this week.

    Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.


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