Before the top nine on American Idol performed songs from the Lennon & McCartney songbook, we had to find out which extra singer would be joining the Idol tour. It was no surprise – Aubrey Cleland won out over Charlie Askew, the awkward little dude who sang a song he’d written.
With that nonsense out of the way, let’s talk performances.
Kree Harrison – “With a Little Help From My Friends”
Thank god for Kree, an Idol contestant this season who’s actually heard of The Beatles. This was a great song for Kree. She put a bit of country spin on it, but still rocked out. It was my favorite performance from her yet.
Burnell Taylor – “Let It Be”
This song was a no-brainer for Burnell, because of its gospel quality. It was a talented and beautiful, if a little unsurprising, performance. I like Burnell.
Amber Holcomb – “She’s Leaving Home”
I don’t know this song, and to be honest I thought it was a little boring. (That’s not to say the original is boring – I will go listen to it at some point.) But this performance was kind of dreary, even though I really like Amber and thought she sang it beautifully.
* I feel like I should add that my fiance Rob loved this performance.
Lazaro Arbos – “In My Life”
It was hard to see Lazaro struggle in the session with Jimmy, and then struggle on stage. The song was too tough for him, and I think Lazaro is in over his head now. He seems like a very sweet kid, and a sweet, gentle voice. But it’s limited. He looked very dapper.
Candice Glover – “Come Together”
I loved this song choice. It was something a little unexpected, but something I knew immediately that Candice would kill. I thought this was fun, skilled, sexy and badass. Adored it, adore her.
Paul Jolley – “Eleanor Rigby”
Paul has not been my favorite, and his version of this song made me cringe. It was like a performance at a third-rate Atlantic City hotel.
Angie Miller – “Yesterday”
Sometimes I think Angie can be a tad too dramatic, but in this performance I think it worked. She pulled back in the right places, and it was breathtaking. A really beautiful performance.
Devin Valez – “The Long and Winding Road”
Devin has a good voice, he’s just not for me. I thought this was cheesy and overdone in places.
Janelle Arthur – “I Will”
First of all, Janelle looked stunning this week. Just gorgeous. And her singing was beautiful. It was simple, but very well done.
Rankings:It was hard to rank the performances this week, because I really loved several of them. But here goes.
- Candice Glover
- Angie Miller
- Kree Harrison
- Janelle Arthur
- Burnell Taylor
- Amber Holcomb
I thought Lazaro, Paul and Devin were easily the bottom three for me, and I could get rid of all three of them this week. This reeeeeeally is a season for women, which is great to see.
Results
I didn’t quite have the bottom three right – it was Amber Holcomb, Devin Velez and Paul Jolley and Paul Jolley was eliminated. I’m happy to see Paul go, both because I hated that cover of “Eleanor Rigby” and because it felt like the final nail in the coffin on a non-threatening, down-home white boy winning another season of Idol. I think this season’s winner will probably be Angie, but it’s still kind of anyone’s game.
