Theoretically, there would be a lot of reasons to be excited about the end of this season’s “American Idol.”
It’s the first all female finale in nine years. Both women are very good and either would be a deserving winner. Finally, the show originated from the Nokia Theatre, before 7,000 fans, the biggest live audience of the season.
Still, there’s a certain lack of competition between the finalists. They act more like sisters than foes. Which would normally be sweet, but also robs the final battle of its urgency.
Indeed, the whole point of a winner on “Idol” seems by now moot — one has as good a chance as the other to be a successful recording artist and performer regardless of the outcome.
Candice Glover the stirring soul voice from St. Helena Island, S.C., and the country soul of Kree Harrison of the rodeo world of Woodville, Texas, will both be around for a while.
(Just as they’ve both been around for a while already, with a clip shown of Kree on Rosie O’Donnell’s show when she was 10, and snippets of Candice’s two previous “Idol” tries).
But the final performance performance show Wednesday was still pretty much a dud, because of producer song choices, a heavy reliance on ballads and a bit of nerves.
Judges, who had never been less powerful on the show, didn’t even comment on all of the final three performances.
They didn’t even comment on who they thought did better on the final night of votes (or at least they didn’t before my DVR snapped off during the song recap precisely at 10).
They did vote with their feet, though, with Candice getting two unanimous standing ovations from them and Kree getting one.
The first round of songs chosen by show producer Simon Fuller were predictable and ill-chosen; if this is the guy calling the shots on Idol, no wonder it’s taken a dive in ratings.
Kree did Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” not quite as well as the original (though the knee-jerk reaction remained constant: you suddenly had the urge to donate to animal rescue).
Candice didn’t bring the full power of Adele’s “Chasing Pavements,” though she did add a little originality to it, softening it in parts and rounding out its edges.
“Both were a little sleepy if I’m being honest,” said Randy Jackson, one of only two judges to speak after both women had finished singing.
That may have been because of timing — it was the first hour long performance night of the whole season. But they still had time for the Coca-Cola sponsored Carly Rae Jepsen performance that “you’ve been creating all season long,” Ryan Seacrest said.
We have?
Apparently there had been online polls governing aspects of the long awaited performance. When it finally came, though, i wonder who had voted on her wearing hot pants? Who voted for her to lip synch?
OK, off to round two: the traditionally awful “first singles” that they’d do if they win. Thankfully it wasn’t the same bad song twice but two separate ones. “All Cried Out,” by Kree, accompanied by field of those dumb waving hands in the audience, was yet another ballad that grew. Some but not all judges stood to applaud.
The same structure was built into Candice’s song, titled “I Am Beautiful.” She seemed to do a little more with what she had, and all the judges stood to applaud the effort.
It was only the songs each singer chose for herself — a favorite one they’d done earlier in the season — that the show really heated up to the proper temperature.
Kree’s revival of Patty Griffin’s “Up to the The Mountain (MLK Song)” with a choir was so strong, it erased any perceived lapses earlier in the night, and the judges stood to applaud.
Not many could top that, but Candice is one of the few. She brought back the Ben E. King “I Who Have Nothing” that has been a showstopper for many a performer, including her back on Top 10 week. Here, battling theatrical smoke that completely obscured her for a moment, she even built on her last performance, starting acappella before the band kicked in and drove her to her killer climax.
Judges stood and couldn’t really talk after that. “That song was like a planet exploding,” Keith Urban marveled.
Which is why Candice probably has an edge to win Thursday night, in a two hour show with the usual surprise guest stars and return of the Top 10 and various awful auditioners. There will also likely be room to say goodbye at least to Randy Jackson, the only one of the four judges to admit he wasn’t coming back for Season 13.
If Kree wins, she’ll be just as deserving. But if she doesn’t, she can always go back to dazzling afternoon talk show hosts.