Source: USA TODAY
Quick, how many Motown ballads can you name? The eight remaining American Idol finalists, who’ve shown a serious penchant for the slow stuff will probably sing them all tonight. Share your thoughts on the performances of Lazaro Arbos, Janelle Arthur, Candice Glover, Kree Harrison, Amber Holcomb, Angie Miller, Burnell Taylor and Devin Velez here at Idol Chatter. — Brian Mansfield
Gotta admit, I love hearing Smokey Robinson talk over the music of Jack White. Not that I think, for a second, that any of these eight singers are going to sing a White Stripes song tonight. But, really – if Candice Glover sang Seven Nation Army, it might be the single greatest moment in the history of this show.
Didja catch Kree Harrison mouth “Happy birthday” to Mariah Carey as Ryan Seacrest introduced the Top Eight?
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Kree Harrison is taking a big risk singing Aretha Franklin’s Don’t Play That Song. Smokey Robinson tells her, “Aretha is my longest friend who is still alive” (a statement that breaks my heart). When Harrison sings in the studio, Robinson looks practically giddy and tells her its his favorite track of the week. He’s going to call Franklin and tell her to be sure to watch the show tonight.
Robinson’s right. Harrison’s performance is a flat-out stunner. Imagine Trisha Yearwood singing an Aretha Franklin song, and you’ve got a sense of how perfect it is.
“To take on the Queen of Soul is a very tough thing,” Randy Jackson says. “You’re one of the best in the competition. … You definitely are here to stay.”
Mariah Carey notes the country infusion. “I commend you for doing this song. … Bravo.”
“I love that you keep reminding people of the blues and the soul roots that are in country,” Keith Urban says.
“I think you did a Queen with this. I think you did a Queen with the Madonna performance,” Nicki Minaj says. And there’s something to be said for someone who can pull of Queen-level material.
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The guys sing I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch). But one – or more — of them forgets the words or misses a cue, and the whole thing falls apart. If it was Holllywood Week, one — or more — of them would get sent packing.
Nicki Minaj is furious. “I don’t know what that was, but I’m going to act like I didn’t even see it or hear it!” In a move that makes Simon Cowell seem like Mr. Nice Guy, she orders them off the stage.
Ryan Seacrest gives them a chance to explain themselves. Burnell Taylor starts mumbling something — he’s clearly ticked and he doesn’t want to shoulder the blame. Devin Velez throws the other two under the bus, saying that he learned his part and tried to bail the others out.
I thought Amber Holcomb might be going home this week. Not anymore.
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Finally, the Idol singers have found some tempo. But Amber Holcomb apparently didn’t get the memo. She has picked Stevie Wonder’s Lately, which is a beautiful song. But still.
“I can’t wait to hear you sing that song,” Smokey Robinson tells him, “because I know you’re going to annihilate it.”
Holcomb hopes America will see that she deserves to be in the Top Three, not the Bottom Three.
And, suddenly, we’re back on American Idol circa 2005, as Holcomb perfectly executes her song but brings nothing new to her interpretation. Even with a bad Angie Miller performance, I got more of her personality than I did from a flawless Holcomb. If Holcomb stays another week, it’ll be only because she got the pimp spot.
“And that was a tour de force!” Mariah Carey says. “Tour de force, darlings,” she continues, when, apparently, the audience doesn’t react as strongly as she wishes. “Do you know what that means? Does anybody know what tour de force means?”
Geez, Mariah, insult the audience much?
Keith Urban agrees with Mariah. It’s a tour de force.
“If you wear pink lipstick, you’ll get more votes,” Nicki Mina says. “Amber, that was just out of this world.”
‘Yo, by far, for me, the best vocal of the night!” Randy Jackson says. “I see you grow every week more.”
Grade: B+
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Smokey Robinson seems genuinely surprised and pleased that Angie Miller has chosen Shop Around. It was Motown’s first million-seller, he says, and it took him about 30 minutes to write. “I think you should have fun with it from the outset,” he says, as he listens to Miller’s funky, guitar-heavy arrangement of the song. “The bluesier you make it, the more it fits.”
I’m not sure she has quite enough fun in her performance, though it’s sexy in auditioning-for-a-Hardee’s-commercial way. It’s a nice try, but it’s probably her weakest performance.
“This was a very strange one for me,” Randy Jackson says. “It’s the first time every that I’ve seen you on this show have such a pitchy performance.”
“Very sexy moments, darling — a little risque,” Mariah Carey says. “I would have rather heard you at the piano.”
“I hear what Randy’s saying about the pitch tonight,” Keith Urban says. He thinks the song’s melody kept pulling her down. “You would soar in moments, then you got pulled back down by the needs of the melody.”
It’s not a talent or a melody issue for Nicki Minaj “I think you came out and tried to show a different side of Angie that didn’t need to be shown,” Minaj says. “If you think is not R&B or bluesy, switch it up and do what you do.” She needs to stick to what she knows, Minaj says, and people like that already.
Grade: C
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Amber Holcomb, Candice Glover and Angie Miller are ready to do their best Supremes interpretation. Glover’s the shiest one in the bunch, so the other girls have been trying to tell her how to flirt with the cutest guys in the audience.
It’s interesting hearing these three particular women together. As they trade lines, it’s easy to see Miller’s “dramatic” tendencies that Jimmy Iovine referenced last week. While Holcomb and Glover seem suave and smooth, Miller’s working hard to make sure the camera loves her. ‘Course, all three of them sound fine.
“Hashtag wow!” says Mariah Carey. “I heard all of your voices individually, when you would take the moment.”
The next solo goes to Burnell Taylor, who’s covering Stevie Wonder’s My Cherie Amour. Taylor’s looking forward to putting his touch on a song so many people have covered. Smokey Robinson calls that raspy quality of his voice “captivating.” In the studio, Robinson wants a softer, more intimate approach. Taylor plans to take his advice. “I just want to do the song justice.”
He gets that part right in his performance, but there’s something in the way enunciates the words — I think it’s his Southern accent, actually — that doesn’t quite work. He’s got some nice runs, though, he seems to be working too hard to make them precise when they should sound light and effortless.
Nicki Minaj: “Looking like a sexy doctor in all white. Looking like a priest or something.” She’s reminded why she fell in love with his voice. She likes the way he played with the melody. “It’s very artsy to watch.”
“I love your choices,” says Randy Jackson. “It shows that you don’t always have to do the big runs. … The choices that you make are so smart.”
“You picked one of my favorite songs every, and I think you did a really good job with it,” Mariah Carey says.
“You’re so original, Burnell, that it’s really hard to critique anything, because it’s your style,” Keith Urban tells him.
Grade: B+
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It’s not like Devin Velez is going to sign a fast song tonight, but Smokey Robinson’s Tracks of My Tears is right up his alley. He’s singing behind the beat throughout his recording session, but Robinson kind of digs it, with one minor adjustment, which he gives to Velez.
And Velez sounds just marvelous with this song. It suits the timbre of his voice perfectly, and that behind-the-beat syncopation he’s doing just rocks my world. His best performance – and maybe tonight’s.
Keith Urban notes the challenge of singing new material confidently, and says he saw the moments where Velez relaxed into his performance.
Nicki Minaj says he looks like “a ripe banana … and that’s a good thing.” She loved every single choice he made (and she’s obsessed with the original version of the song). “I like the falsetto choices that you made — yes, sir!”
“Devin is back tonight, y’all,” says Randy Jackson. One of his best performances in weeks, “hands down.”
“I loved it from the second I heard what was going on in the studio,” Mariah Carey says. She wouldn’t have minded hearing Ooh Baby Baby, too. “This was flawless from you.”
Smokey Robinson weighs in: “You were awesome. Great job, is my feedback.”
Grade: A
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Janelle Arthur says she worked up her arrangement on You Keep Me Hangin’ On when she was about 14. Smokey Robinson loves hearing people take chances with material, and he offers her advice in her recording session. Jimmy Iovine likes how it works out and hopes she does it like that tonight.
She’s sitting on a stool playing her guitar as she starts. There’s got a simmering intensity to her performance – honestly, it sounds more like Madonna’s Like a Prayer than her duet version of Like a Prayer did. And that’s a good thing. A very good thing.
“That was you at your finest!” Mariah Carey says, and repeats it a couple times for emphasis.
‘Which just goes to prove you shouldn’t be a duo, you should be a solo act,” Keith Urban says. He loves her fearless and the way her arrangement brought out the angst of the lyrics.
“I think you always shine when you have your guitar in front of you,” Nicki Minaj. “That’s kind of how I see you at your shows.”
Randy Jackson: “I absolutely loved it. I thought it was incredible. I think this is one of your best performances on the show.”
Afterwards, Arthur tells Ryan Seacrest that this is the first time she has played her guitar with a full band in her life. And Seacrest tells Urban that Arthur confided in him that she was nervous playing guitar in front of Urban.
Grade: A
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Smokey Robinson is in the house tonight. “I always enjoy working with the kids here, man,” he tells Ryan Seacrest. He’s also working on a duets album, featuring songs he’s written for other artists but hasn’t sung himself. “We’re about to get started, and I’m excited.”
Up next, it’s Lazaro Arbos, who tells Robinson he’ll be singing Stevie Wonder’s For Once in My Life.
Robinson tells him, “You are so good when you do what you like.” Which, frankly, is excellent advice, because he gets so nervous outside his comfort zone he’ll probably last longer if he sticks with stuff he loves against all other suggestions.
He assumes a more subdued look tonight, dressed in black leather and brown pants, with a sparkling yellow tie the only hint of his love of color. He’s also gained back all the confidence he’d lost in the past couple weeks. It’s in every note, every step, every gesture. It won’t be the greatest performance we hear tonight, by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s back to being likable Lazaro – and that’s probably enough to get him into the Top Five, at least.
Randy Jackson starts, admitting he gave Arbos a hard time last week. (“No problem,” Lazaro says.) “I don’t know if you completely redeemed yourself, but this was far better than last week,” he says.
Mariah Carey seconds the pitch issues that Jackson brought up. She’s glad Arbos picked a song in the sweet spot of his register. But she’s more impressed with his courage and confidence, which has clearly returned.
Keith Urban gives props for Robinson for the advice he gave Arbos. “When you do the thing you feel most comfortable doing, you really shine,” he says. He extends the advice by saying that Arbos needs to find songs that are not just musically, but also rhythmically, comfortable for him.”
“I’d like to ask Smokey if he’d like to be my sugar daddy,” says Nicki Minaj. “Fonzie, you gave it to me tonight. … You did a great job!”
Grade: B
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Janell Arthur and Kree Harrison have been wanting to do a duet together, “We just wouldn’t have thought it would be a Madonna song.” Fortunately, they’ve heard Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles cover Like a Prayer, so that gave them a reference point for their twang.
And it works surprisingly well with that twang, especially on the chorus, where Arthur adds a sweet high harmony to Harrison’s alto melody. Harrison sounds fantastic, and Arthur sounds as strong and as confident as she has on any song during the finals. This bodes well for both singers’ survival this week.
“I can’t believe two of my favorite girls in the whole world just did a song together,” Nicki Minaj says. She loves Arthur, she says, but “Kree almost made it look like she flew in to do a duet with an Idol contestant … Her voice sounded like butter. I mean, Kree your voice sounded like nothing in the world.”
Randy Jackson says the pitch got away from Arthur a little bit, and he agrees with Minaj that Harrison outshone Arthur.
“This was a sisterhood moment,” says Mariah Carey, though she clearly has more to say. And then she starts to say it. Or something anyway. Bottom line: “Both of you were very, very good.”
Keith Urban isn’t sure if how well the song worked says something about where pop was in the late ’80s or where country music is now. And he’s not going to pit one against the other — he likes that they had each other’s backs.
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To get the finalists ready for Detroit night, they got to work with Motown legend Smokey Robinson, who tells Candice Glover her version of I (Who Have Nothing) made him cry.
Glover tells Robinson that she’ll be singing Heard It Through the Grapevine, and Robinson tells Glover that his Miracles were the first group to record the song, but the Motown brass thought it was too bluesy for them.
It’s not too bluesy for Glover, though. She starts it slow and a tempo, playing off the saxophonist next to her and getting free with the melody before locking into a shuffling groove just before the chorus. It’s not a redefining arrangement of the song – actually, as a re-arrangement, it’s kind of pedestrian — but Glover belts out the blues like she was born to them. Great as it is, it’s almost like she’s on autopilot. She makes it look easy.
“You raise the bar, exponentially,” Keith Urban tells her. “I never feel like you over-power it too much or leave it down too much.”
‘You kept your eyes alive through the whole performance,” Nicki Minaj says. She’s glad people got to see her “rock-y, blues-y” side.
Randy Jackson: “You’re so good in your own skin now, I think you believe that you belong in this competition. … I thought it was an amazing job, effortless.”
Mariah Carey: “How could you not believe that you belong in this competition? In a lot of ways, you epitomize what this competition is. … I just want to hear more of that church-y, jazz moment that I know I’m going to get because you’re going to be in this competition that long.”
Ryan Seacrest, however, noticed that Glover seemed nervous as she came out. She tells him the pressure of going first got to her (clearly, she has watched this show before), but now she’s going to be able to chill for the rest of the night.
Grade: A-
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