One thing about having an all female final five on “American Idol” is that the quality of the singing and hence the entire show has gone up. And having a good show has gained some importance in aiding the national psyche at a dark time.
Ryan Seacrest began the show with the requisite acknowledgment of “the tragedy in Boston” and promise that “with a heavy heart” they were all going to try to put on the best show possible.
And in a two hour episode featuring two songs from each young women, did offer some uplift beyond their individual efforts to win the competition. Clear leader Candice Glover’s version of the Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston duet “What You Believe” was “something that Boston needs” and something that the country needed, Nicki Minaj raved.
Angie Miller, who lives in a nearby suburb, dedicated her version of the Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand By You” to Boston.
Oddly, hits by Mariah were the touchstone for two of the five contestants, despite the presence of the smiling diva before them. Mariah approved both of them and said she took notes, both from Glover and from an ascendant Amber Holcomb, who did Mariah’s version of Harry Nillson’s “Without You.”
It was all meant as a tribute, of course, but it must have felt weird to Carey since that song was part of the evening dedicated to hits from the year the singer was born.
That meant a trip back to the late 80s and early 90s, and Candice Glover began the night with a nifty nod to a founding judge on the show, as she turned Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up” into a sophisticated, sultry song.
It was a song written for a much thinner voice than her own and Candice should be picking songs that could better showcase her range, said Jimmy Iovine. Iovine, who has been generally silenced this season, or at least left until Thursday’s show, was brought on the performance show as if to try to get some sense of balance to the universal bouquets from judges with some slight criticism. (Oddly, he only showed up when he did have criticism; no use having a fifth voice of praise slowing the music).
Candice got the idea of covering Paula from Janelle Arthur, who seems to be pictured as the singer struggling to stay in the competition. Some judges said her version of Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name” from the year of her birth, 1989, brought her back (though from what, it was not clear). But judge Keith Urban, resident country expert, said he wasn’t feeling it.
Kree Harrison could do no wrong, with a version of the Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels” (from 1990) and Celine Dion’s “Have You Ever Been in Love” during the second half of the show, songs from divas.
It was obviously a theme well suited for how the competition shook down; we may assume there would not be a divas night had there been guys still left in the contest, or if the final five were all male but female.
For their choices, Angie Miller stayed chained to her piano by judges’ request, to do Beyonce’s “Halo,” and Janelle Arthur stuck with standard country in picking Dolly Parton with a version of “Dumb Blonde” that was, as judge Randy Jackson noted “fun, but it didn’t really show anything new from you.”
Finally, Amber Holcomb continued her striving up from her confounding spot near the bottom with a strong version of Barbra Streisand’s “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?”
It’s a pretty solid five, which will make each week’s choice of elimination more difficult, but judges were painting a picture of Janelle’s departure even though the target has been stronger historically on Amber.
One of the three female winners of “Idol” will play tonight’s results show, Fantasia, along with Clay Aiken.