Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Top 3 Perform: Jimmy Iovine, Judge's & Producer's Choice Week




Welcome back. 3 are left, 1 week until the finale, things are looking good. It's easily one of the best Top 3's in Idol history. It's definitely up there with some of the great Final 3s. If any one of the finalists could win the show and win it because they deserved it and not because of gender or any other extenuating circumstance then that's a great thing.

 Each one of them got to go on their hometown visits a few days ago and got to experience all the pomp and circumstance, and we will see a lot of that tonight. As always  we have our Weekly Rankings. This is the last edition of the Weekly Rankings this year. Next week is the finale so at that point anything can happen, so we hope you enjoyed this new feature on IdolBeThe Judge this season.

This week the contestants will sing 3 songs, 1 will be Jimmy Iovine's Choice, 1 will be Judge's Choice and 1 will be Producer's Choice. So without further ado, let's get started:

Weekly Rankings
1. Candice Glover-Up 1 From Last Week
2. Angie Miller-Up 1 From Last Week
3. Kree Harrison-Down 2 From Last Week (Officially Bottom 2)

Jimmy Iovine's Choice Performance

Kree Harrison
(Perfect-Pink)
I really like this song choice for Kree. It allows her to sing something current, something that allows her to put her country spin on a non-country song. I thought at times she was catching up to the melody and band and then at other times she was, well, perfect. So a bit of a mixed bag for her first performance. B
Keith=Proved that she can just sing country no matter what.
Nicki=Quality of her voice is always warm and sweet. It felt very short, wanted to hear more. Didn't seem as nervous as last week. Suggests she wears flat boots, so she can move more.
Randy=Didn't love the song for her. Great song, but it didn't do enough quickly. Laid a little flat.
Mariah=Felt that she was connected, felt she could have went further, but knows she is saving herself for the other performances tonight.
Do The Judges & I Agree? Yup. She did alright, not outstanding, but very good.

Candice Glover
(One-U2/Mary J. Blige)
I love this song, and Candice can kill it if she does what she has been doing the past number of weeks. When the band really kicks in and her voice gets going she starts to sound fantastic. She laid it all out there, and hit some big notes and some crazy good runs. Really great first performance by Candice. A-
Nicki=That was a great song choice. Did justice to a great version by Mary J. Blige
Randy= Great song. Gave her room to soar and sing so easily. Not everything was perfect but her emotion was so on point.
Mariah=Can't believe she didn't always just sing as a profession. Always brings so much to the table.
Keith=Loved all of her power. It got sharp in a couple spots but that's because her adrenaline is flying.
Do The Judges & I Agree? Definitely. Candice put it all out there, it wasn't perfect but it was so good.

Angie Miller
(Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word-Elton John)
Given that Angie thrives on the piano and Elton John is always on the piano it makes sense that Jimmy Iovine choose this song, thing is that Angie isn't on the piano. She is standing in a ton of that smoke and sings the song straight. She doesn't really change it up, she just goes for it. I love that she goes for some of those big notes and controls it enough to get back down to the lower verses. Some of it was a little pitchy, but it was a solid performance. B
Randy= Is odd that she wasn't on the piano. Curious that she didn't take the set up for the piano. Loved the restrained thing. I actually really liked it.
Mariah=One of the best performances she has done. Thinks she lost herself in the song.
Keith=Would have loved her to hold back even more. Could have hit emotion more if she sang more gently at times.
Nicki=Loves the way she looks. Didn't hit her emotionally. But doesn't take away the fact that she is trying to win this competition. 
Do The Judges & I Agree? Yep. So much so that they all mentioned the fact that she wasn't on the piano was odd given the artist. But Angie said that she didn't know the song well enough to learn it on the piano. So I understand that. Angie didn't choose the song, so it makes sense.

Jimmy Iovine's Pick of Winner of Round 1= Angie

Judge's Choice Performances

Candice
(Next To Me-Emili Sande)
We see a lot of Candice's hometown visit. Her hometown is St. Helena, South Carolina. She visits her former workplace, we see her visit her family, her parents and her 6 siblings and then Candice puts on a concert for the people of St. Helena. It's pretty cool. The song choice is a solid one. It's a current song, so it allows Candice to remain current, and still change the song up enough to fit her. She doesn't sing it just like the original, but doesn't change it too much to make it unrecognizable. I really enjoyed it, I think I liked her first performance better but this was still quite good. B+
Mariah=Sang A+ amazing. Got re-energized when she went home, it rejuvenated her. 
Keith= The way she started was so clear and true. The end was just so in the zone. It was so good. 
Nicki= Came out swinging in this competition. So proud of her. Congratulations.
Randy= It's crazy to think how someone is able to go from nothing to such a big stage like this.
Do The Judges & I Agree? For sure. Candice was great. I tribute some of her off notes to the emotional video package she had to see before she performed. It's tough to put your emotions to a side so quickly.

Angie 
(Try-Pink)
Angie's hometown is Beverly, Massachusetts, which is not very far from Boston. We see her pick up her friends at a coffee shop and visit her old Elementary School. We also see her house and her family, which includes her brother, mom and dad. Then she gets to have a parade all for her and we see her concert. It's interesting that two different contestants are singing Pink tonight. Angie and Kree have a different style so it's cool to see a different interpretation. I loved this song choice for her, she was so into this performance. She oversang it at a couple points, but there was so much more good than any bad.  This is one of the first times that I enjoyed her non-piano performance. A-
Keith=Loves that she didn't play piano twice already. Never seemed as comfortable than she did right there without the piano.
Nicki=Never seemed so comfortable singing an uptempo song, best ever.
Randy=That song fit her like a glove. Sounded amazing on it. Sounded so comfortable. 
Mariah=Her confidence just was out of this world. Never performed like ever before. Found her place at home on the stage.
Do The Judges & I Agree? Absolutely. She was so comfortable and into this performance. It really came out clearly tonight.

Kree
(Here Comes Goodbye-Rascal Flatts)
We see Kree's hometown of Woodsville, Texas. We see her visit the last home that Kree shared with her parents and sister.  Kree lost her parents early on in her life, her Dad in a 2001 plane crash and her mom in 2009 from a car crash. Kree is one strong lady to keep it together after visiting her old home and memories. Then we see Kree's hometown parade, Kree ends up riding on a mechanical bull and then she does her concert. She sings and dedicates the Carrie Underwood song that she sang last week, See You Again, to her parents and gets pretty choked up. This song choice is right on the money for Kree. It allows her to hit all the emotions that we notice that she is sometimes is missing from her performances. Kree sang just beautifully, really well done. A-
Nicki=Can't underestimate her genuine, emotional, trigger. When she went back home she regained all the things that help her feel and get to the emotion. So, super proud of her. Knows her parents are watching her right now.
Randy=Words don't even express how emotionally charged this was. Sang her heart out. Unbelievably beautiful. Brilliant.
Mariah= That was more than brilliant. That she made it through that performance after the video package is amazing. Overwhelmed by the purity of Kree singing. She is just so real.
Keith=It was the perfect song. She sang it just right, and felt it just right.
Do The Judges & I Agree? For sure. Kree performed a beautiful, powerful, emotionally charged performance. Really so good. That video package got to me.

Jimmy Iovine's Pick as Winner of Round 2 = Kree

Producer's Choice Performance

Angie Miller
(Maybe-Emile Sande)
I don't know this song at all. But sometimes that plays to the contestant's advantage.  Angie is back on the piano. I thought this performance was a bit too forced. I actually don't think she needed to be at the piano for this song, it didn't really do anything big for her. Her last performance was far superior to this one. Not saying it wasn't good, just wasn't great. B
Randy=Didn't like piano performance as much as the others.  Became a complete performer tonight.
Mariah=Didn't feel like that's an easy song to sing. Felt the song, and emotion. Nothing negative to say.
Keith= Found her groove. She can sing under the piano.
Nicki=Her growth has surpassed all expectations. She is feeling it. Emotionally connected every time.
Did The Judges & I Agree? Not really. They seemed to like it a bit more than I did. I feel they didn't say all they really wanted to, they held back some critiques there.

Kree Harrison
(Better Dig Too-The Band Perry)
This song is full on country, it even has a banjo and fiddle in it. I think that Kree was into this performance and really showed some emotion. Could she have done more? I think so, but she still did a fine job. I don't know if it did enough though. B 
Mariah=Loved seeing the rocker side of her. Love the emotional side better. Likes the sorrow more than the anger.
Keith=Likes the song, doesn't know if that's the place for her. She set the bar so high with her last performance that it's gonna be tough.
Nicki=That's not her comfort zone. Whoever picked that song should be stoned, didn't like it for her.
Randy=She's a superstar. On her way. That song was too ordinary for her. She tried her best.
Did The Judges & I Agree? Pretty much. That song didn't suit her right, she did what she could but I don't know what will happen.


 Candice Glover
(Somewhere-West Side Story)
This is such an epic, huge, powerful song. Candice held her own with a full orchestra and about 20 pounds of necklace. Just amazing. She took that song and made people want to see West Side Story either again or for the first time. She put it all out there, every part of her was out there. That last note was so amazing. That was a winner's song, that was a person who said "I'm going to that finale". Just unbelievable. A+
Keith=If people don't vote for Candice they don't have a pulse.
Nicki= 4 Words: "See You Next Week".
Randy=Had one of the greatest vocals in Idol history before and just got another. Is such a pro. It was so incredible. This was a singing lesson.
Mariah=Congratulations. So proud. She can sing anything any day of the week. 
Do The Judges & I Agree? For sure. That was just amazing. If she doesn't get to the finale it will be wrong on so many levels.

Jimmy Iovine's Pick as Winner of Round 3 & Night=Candice

Predictions
Bottom 2
Angie
Kree



Going Home
Kree


Final Thoughts

*This is gonna be an interesting vote. All 3 ladies did amazing, all 3 had a bit of an off moment or two, but no matter what they all each deserve a place in the finale. Whoever gets there they deserve it because the competition between the 3 of them was fantastic. I think it's a race for the second spot between Kree and Angie because Candice blew it out of the water with her last song and solid enough performances overall to solidify her place in the finale.

*I think Jimmy did a good job picking songs, the producers did an awful job, aside from Candice's song, and the judges did the best job overall. It's tough when all the power is taken away from you, and you have to just sing a song even if it doesn't fit you. But all the ladies had to get their songs picked, so although it might have hurt Kree a bit more than the others, it did seem like each struggled at points. 

*I don't get why the contestants couldn't choose one of their songs. I get Jimmy and the judge's but they need producers also? Seemed wrong that none of the songs tonight came from them.

* I can't believe they played the clip packages of their time at home literally seconds before they had to perform. I don't recall them doing this before. I feel like I recall them showing us a snippet of their time at home, and then we see the rest of it on the Results show. I'm not saying they didn't, but it seems wrong. Those video packages are so emotional, and so real. Seems a bit unfair, but I guess since it happened to all of them it evened out. But still, Kree's and Candice's video packages were so much more emotional.


That's it. Tomorrow is the big night. We learn which of these ladies will fall 1 week short of the finale. It's gonna be a great choice really no matter what. So come back here tomorrow, and until then see ya!


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