After five years in a row after a male won the title of “American Idol,” there was question whether a woman would ever get the top crown again since Jordin Sparks won it in season six. But this season for the first time, all five finalists are female, making a woman a guaranteed winner in May.
The last male in the season 12 competition, Lazaro Arbos, was eliminated Thursday after a performance Wednesday that got some unusually harsh criticism from judges, even from Mariah Carey, who said she had been pressured by producers to not so uniformly positive. But there was no getting away from his dismal rendering of “Close to You” that, judges noted, didn’t take note of a major key change.
Arbos, 22, of Naples, Fla., had early buzz in the show because he had a pronounced stutter that went away when he sang. The stutter seemed to have been eased as he went on in the competition and his vocals didn’t always keep up with the competition. It may have been the backstory and a sympathy vote that got him as far as he did.
As it was, judges did not save Arbos after he sang “Feeling Good” for survival. And the remaining five are Candice Glover and Kree Harrison, who were revealed to be the top two vote-getters this week, Angie Miller, Janelle Arthur and Amber Holcolmb, who was in the bottom two with Arbos.