'American Idol' women's semifinal: The recap
Some girls attempt Beyonce. Some sing Whitney Houston. And some women channel Kim Burrell.
That last name may not mean much to everybody who watched American Idol's female semifinals show Tuesday, but it does to female singers with gospel and R&B in their backgrounds. And I'd lay cash money it means something to Candice Glover.
Glover, who performed last Tuesday, finished the show with the kind of performance that resets how all the ones before her were perceived. Suddenly, performances that originally had made big impressions -- like Breanna Steer's sultry but cool take on Beyonce's Flaws and All or Amber Holcomb's nearly note-perfect rendition of Whitney Houston's I Believe in You and Me -- suddenly seemed like mere attempts to measure up.
The show's producers may have put Glover last for a reason. With performances that generally ranged from strong to fantastic -- Zoanette Johnson's trainwreck on What's Love Got to Do With It excepted -- it would have been easy for nearly anyone to get lost in the middle of the show.
When the results come in Thursday, one or two women who would make a solid finalist almost surely will go home too soon. It likely won't be Glover, though. And it certainly won't be Angie Miller.
Miller's looking more and more like this season's odds-on favorite. Tuesday, she sat down behind the piano and took possession of Never Gone, the original song that Season 11 finalist Colton Dixon introduced on the American Idols Live tour last summer. "The trumpets should sound when you walk in the room," Nicki Minaj told her, as she assured her a spot in the finals.
Here's how I ranked Tuesday night's performances (with some of them agonizingly close):
Ordinary People, Candice Glover
Stronger, Kree Harrison
Never Gone, Angie Miller
I Believe in You and Me, Amber Holcomb
Big Girls Don't Cry, Aubrey Cleland
Flaws and All, Breanna Steer
If I Can Dream, Janelle Arthur
Stand Up for Love, Adriana Latonio
Lost, Tenna Torres
What's Love Got to Do With It, Zoanette Johnson
I'll be a little surprised, though, if my Top Five wind up being the five female finalists. I hope you'll put your rankings in the comments section.
Stronger, Kree Harrison
Never Gone, Angie Miller
I Believe in You and Me, Amber Holcomb
Big Girls Don't Cry, Aubrey Cleland
Flaws and All, Breanna Steer
If I Can Dream, Janelle Arthur
Stand Up for Love, Adriana Latonio
Lost, Tenna Torres
What's Love Got to Do With It, Zoanette Johnson
I'll be a little surprised, though, if my Top Five wind up being the five female finalists. I hope you'll put your rankings in the comments section.
