American Idol: Season 12 - Top 6 Perform

Hello Idol fans!  Definitely an interesting episode last night.  We got to see the Idol production team go into desperation mode when it comes to one of their out of control contestants.  And we got to see a very talented contestant soar into a new stratosphere.  I think it's pretty obvious at a high level how tonight will play out, but we'll still go through the motions of recapping Burt Bacharach/Songs You wish You Wrote night.  Here we go!

The Recap

1. Angie Miller 
   
   Song 1: "Anyone Who Had a Heart"
   Song 2: "Love Came Down" by Kari Jobe
   
   Well, we had a little thunderstorm last night, and the power knocked out the TiVo for exactly the amount of time of Angie's first performance.  But, based on the recap at the end of the episode it seemed like a typical non-piano Angie performance.  But, it sounded decent.  When she did a relatively unknown song on the piano, it may as well have been an original which is what everyone loved about Angie in the first place.  I hate to agree with Nicki, but it is what distinguishes her from her competition.  So, she should take advantage of that.  She's probably still the most popular contestant so that should keep her alive.
2. Amber Holcomb
   
   Song 1: "I Say a Little Prayer"
   Song 2: "Love on Top" by Beyonce
   
   Okay, I thought she was really good this week but the judges (especially Nicki honey child) went way overboard with announcing her arrival to superstardom.  Both songs were technically fantastic.  But, there's just something about her, when comparing her to other contestants, that is just off.  I want to say it's really really good Karaoke.  I mean, at one point I said out loud, "she sounds just like Beyonce."  Which was true.  But, she always sounds like the artist she is covering in her performances.  So, then who is Amber?  Well, clearly from her attire she's 80's era Whitney Houston and just wants to dance with somebody.  She's obviously great and shouldn't be going anywhere this week.  
3. Lazaro Arbos
   
   Song 1: "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
   Song 2: "Angels" by Robbie Williams
   
   I do love how Nicki has just given up critiquing Lazaro.  I wish I could do the same, but I have to talk about what the judges did this week.  Clearly, the producers are in a mad scramble to figure out how to get rid of Lazaro.  And apparently, Mariah got scolded for not being hard enough on contestants, which led to her endless ramblings about essentially nothing.  I don't know if being brutally honest with Lazaro is going to solve the problem.  Sympathy voters are sympathy voters and no amounts of appealing to them to STOP is going to actually STOP them. It's going to encourage them to do it more.  I love how the audience didn't even boo at the feedback they gave Lazaro (unless they were instructed not to do so).   He has clearly been in the competition way too long.  Probably shouldn't have even made the live shows.  Yet, he was Top 3 last week.  Ridiculous.  
4. Kree Harrison
   
   Song 1: "What the World Needs Now is Love"
   Song 2: "Help Me Make It Through the Night" by Kris Kristofferson
   
   Kree is still awesome.  She's an understated kind of awesome.  She sang both of her songs so beautifully, but there was nothing stand out-ish of the performances.  Keith got it right.  She's going to be welcomed with open arms in the Country World (he specifically mentioned the Grand Ole Opry).  But, I'm starting to think she may not have the chops to take the crown this year.  I'd love it if she could, but I'm thinking probably not. 
5. Janelle Arthur
   
   Song 1: "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
   Song 2: "The Dance" made famous by Garth Brooks, and written by some random songwriter that Keith gave credit to. 
   
   If we're comparing the 2 country girls, Janelle still pales in comparison to Kree.  Even the judges made reference to her not being in the top 4 of the girls (by omitting her when mentioning the others).  I still think she's all over the place with pitch in her performances.  Her rendition of the Burt song felt so old fashioned it should've been in an Austin Powers movie (oh wait...it was!  Of course Elvis Costello did great with it).  I don't want to be too hard on her though because she should absolutely not be eliminated tonight.  But, if someone besides Lazaro had to go, unfortunately it should be her.   
6. Candice Glover
   
   Song 1: "Don't Make Me Over"
   Song 2: "Love Song" by The Cure (covered by Adele)
   
   And then there was Candice.  After I heard 3 notes of her rendition of "Don't Make Me Over", combined with her performances in previous weeks, I just thought to myself, "Okay, competition is over."  It was clear to me that she is in an absolutely different league than her competition.  It shouldn't even be a question who wins this year anymore.  It should ABSOLUTELY be Candice.  I'm not yet declaring she WILL win, because this is a popularity contest after all.  Again, I have to agree with Nicki, she is the only one of the contestants that made the Burt song feel more modern.  That could be a single today.  She really brought the emotion and the right power to her vocals at the right time.  And then, we were all just floored by "Love Song".  We all knew Randy would declare it was one of the best performances ever.  Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't.  It was absolutely fantastic and was one of those rare chill inducing magical moments that Idol can produce from time to time.  I started to wonder how on earth she didn't make the cut last year.  They had so much talent last year and they were clearly looking for different things too.  This year, less guys with guitars and more girls with great voices.  So, Candice made the cut and she's making the best of it.  WOW.  She sealed the deal for me.  I don't think anyone else comes close.   

The Picks

I can't even try to guess at what America is going to do tonight. We, as a society, have already proven that there is no case study to follow this year.  So, I'm just going to say how it should go down and definitely how the Idol machine will handle what goes down.  

In a League of her own: Candice

Great: Amber, Kree, Angie

Good: Janelle

In a totally wrong league of his own: Lazaro

Bottom 3: Lazaro, Janelle, Amber (Bottom 2: Lazaro, Janelle)

Elimination Pick: Lazaro or No One - No telling what America is going to do.  But, I assure you.  If anyone other than Lazaro gets voted off, they will be saved regardless of what their save song sounds like.  Because, it's just not fair at this point to them.  

And that's all I have for this week.  Let's see what America does!  The great Kelly Clarkson will perform her new single "People Like Us" tonight on the show and most likely say some silly things when Ryan talks to her.  Oh and Scotty McCreery will be there too (just to show you the 2 absolute different extremes of Idol winners).  Hope to see you in the comments, hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!