April 10, 2013 
Picture Courtesy Of American Idol
Looking at the above picture, I just realized that Janelle Arthur bears a strong resemblance to Season 11 Top 10 finalist, Hollie Cavanaugh. Or is it just me?
Well irregardless, like Hollie last season, she sure is getting the shaft as of late. I am not usually on the country bandwagon, but I do like this young lady very much. She brings strong musical skills to this competition and really challenges herself week after week.
So, what is up with the judges? They were very lukewarm in their reviews of her performance last week and over praising a couple of other singers that clearly don’t deserve it.
Such a strange show this season. I can barely keep my eyes open watching it.
This week, the Top 6 will be performing numbers from the Burt Bacharach/Hal David catalogue of music.
They will also select a second number from some list that will magically contain songs that they wish they wrote. I am assuming that they had very little say in this list and would be surprised if any of them like any song on this list.
Idol has all their money tied up in he judges’ salaries so I can’t see them springing some more dollars to obtain copyright for songs never performed on American Idol. It will be a very pleasant surprise if I am proven wrong.
At any rate, tune in to Fox at 8:00 P.M. eastern on Wednesday night to catch the two-hour performance show. I will be writing my Vocal Masterclass article and hope to have it online 24 hours later.
See you in the comments section! And check out the spoilers below courtesy of The Idol Pad.
The Bacharach-David Songbook:
Amber Holcomb – “I Say A Little Prayer” by Burt Bacharach/Dionne Warwick
Angela Miller – “Anyone Who Had A Heart” by Burt Bacharach/Dionne Warwick
Candice Glover – “Don’t Make Me Over” by Burt Bacharach/Dionne Warwick
Janelle Arthur- “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” by Burt Bacharach
Kree Harrison – “What The World Needs Now” by Burt Bacharach/Jackie DeShannon
Lazaro Arbos – “(They Long To Be) Close To You” by Burt Bacharach/The Carpenters
Free Choice (Billed As “Songs You Wish You Wrote”):
Amber Holcomb – “Love On Top” by Beyoncé
Angela Miller – “Love Came Down” by Kari Jobe
Candice Glover – “Love Song” by The Cure/Adele
Janelle Arthur – “The Dance” by Garth Brooks
Kree Harrison – “Help Me Make It Through The Night” by Kris Kristofferson
Lazaro Arbos – “Angels” by Robbie Williams
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What was your thoughts when Ryan asked the judges who they thought would be in the top 3 and made them reveal their answers?
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Candice took ‘em all to school in round one.
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yes, i’ve thought holly and janelle look alike.
i haven’t yet seen the show. maybe tomorrow.
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Help Me Make it Through the Night was another great song choice from Cree. That was her best performance of the season for me. She still didn’t quite get all of it.
The judges could have gone ahead and announced the top three and saved us a few weeks.
Wait a minute; Candice just gave a Master Class performance. Best of the year!
WINNER.
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Candice was beyong fabulous tonight!!! And I usually never use the word fabulous! Her last song was so, so, so incredible. If there is any justice, she should win this competition, but whether she will is another story.
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Peggy – if was unfair and I think the judges felt uncomfortable with it too!!
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Hey everyone. I know I shouldn’t do this before I write my Masterclass article but Candice was incredibly incredible! Wow! She can sing anything and can select songs like no other.
And my second favorite was….well, you have to wait until tomorrow. Hee, hee!!! Any guesses?
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I’m guessing Amber.
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Candice…OMGosh! She is amazing!!! PLease, please let it be her getting the confetti bath this year!!!!!!
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OMG !! Candice was ….how does Mariah say it …. A + Mazing !! Both performances incredible. How is Lazaro even on the stage with talent of that magtitude. She gave one of the best performances every tonight and his has got to be the worst that stage has ever had. Everybody who has ever voted for Lazaro should be ashamed of themselves.
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I should have said “Candice, best of the last two years.”
MCL, to paraphrase Randy, for you for me, I would say Angie. I thought the judges gave her a much needed critique after the first song, but her second song was the best that I recall from her. She seemed to have made a connection with the song and delivered an honest emotion in her performance.
I though Janelle had a good night even though I wasn’t wild about her song choices and saying so wouldn’t fit the judge’s agenda tonight.
They made it pretty clear (finally) that Lazaro needed to watch next week’s show from the sofa at home and that Janelle should be in the bottom 2. The fact that they criticized Angie at all may land her in the bottom three. They were also clear that they didn’t want to see Amber in the bottom three and the total Cree love continues. If Candice isn’t in the top three, there is something wrong here.
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Oh ….and Mariah ….goodness gracious !! Love her singing, love her, but will somebody PLEASE shut her comment period down. Blah Blah Blah … Blah Blah Blah …. Oh my !!
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Louise – you know me like a book!! :). Thanks everyone. Keep the comments coming.
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Karl,
You would think for the money she is making she would plan a few lines to use and expand upon. There is no doubt that she knew exactly what she would say to Kree. It’s the same thing they all say every week, yet it took her forever to choke it out. I could have summed up Lazaro’s first performance with two words but it took her forever to finish apologizing to him for not liking his performance. Man up Mariah! I kind of liked the diva dust though.
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They are really on a Kree bandwagon. They have already inducted her into the Grand ‘Old Opry Hall Of Fame. Too funny!
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Gene
Yeah ! Its interesting. I don’t care that much for Nikki’s personality though….. but what I love about her is she calls it like she sees it. She’s a straight shooter like Simon. She can be hurtful, the same way Simon was. But if you are not good …..she’s gonna let you know it
Mariah as a judge somewhat bothers me.
And this season ….. probably the lowest ever, in my opinion ever, for good talent
Candice to me is the best …and until tonight, she was just good. After tonight close to great ! But I still hold that she is the best singer but I can’t see the Idol audience letting win especially after all the judges raves.
,
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Candice was soooooo INDREDIBLE tonight!!! I’m just so awestruck by her, especially her last performance, and have listened to it three times already! To think Lazaro was in the Top 3 last week and Candice wasn’t. CRAAAAAZINESS I TELL YOU!! She received so much well deserved priase tonight, and Randy is right saying it was one of the best perforamnces ever on the AI stage! America, PLEEEEASE let the Top 3 this week be Candice, Amber, and Angie! Also, Lazaro really NEEDS TO GO HOME! I don’t want to see Janelle leave yet.
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I just thought of something. The judge’s Save is only good this week and next week, and that’s it. If Janelle ends up having the lowest number of votes, I would think they would decide to use the Save on her, because they certainly don’t want to use it on Lazaro.
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I think that the judges made it way too obvious that they would like Janelle to be the girl to leave. They weren’t subtle about it either! Comparing her to Kree and finding her lacking is one of the more reprehensible ways in which they try to undermine the one who is kind of in the way of what they want. Janelle displayed remarkable poise and grace in the face of it. I still love this girl and think she has a very sincere, likeable stage presence and a lovely voice. But she’s not the country girl that TPTB want.
The praise for Kree has become kind of embarrassing. For someone who has played it safe and not really been challenged to dig deeper to find the emotional core of a song, one would think from the judges comments that Kree has arrived. This is what I see all too often. A contestant who doesn’t work to improve and take some risks and ask more of herself, because the judges aren’t holding her to that standard. Nikki said she’s already going to be on the CMA Awards next year! Does she have a crystal ball? She has the sound that they seem to want and there are dollar signs in the eyes of the TPTB.
The judges were right about Angie after her first performance. She needs to think about the words to the song and not just sing the notes! “Anyone who had a heart”, that’s the key phrase of the song. Listen to the words and then convey the emotion and the feeling. But I have this feeling that the judges are giving Angie the redemption arc this season. Then they went wild over her second performance at the piano. I will say that it was much better and there was more emotion in her vocals. I agree with Gene regarding Angie. This is what can happen when the judges try to give constructive criticism.
I loved Amber going uptempo this week! Goodness, this girl can sing the most intricate melodies with such incredible ease. The key changes that she just glides over with that silky smooth voice. She put her own touch on a well known Bacharach/David song and made it fresh and new. Then she served up a Beyoncé song that I had not heard. She can glide up and down the scales of a tricky song and just nail it! Brilliant!
But the performance of the night was Candace’s final one. Brava! Standing “O” as MCL would say. Now that is what singing is all about! Great vocals and real, honest to God emotion! Telling us a story with her voice! Making us feel it! Beautifully done!
The less said about Lazaro the better. But I am now beginning to wonder if for some reason Janelle is the one with the lowest votes tomorrow night, will the judges save her? After their comments tonight, I am not at all sure.
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I’ve only watched the video of Candace from MJs Big Blog. Wow. I loved “Love Song” when it came out when I was in high school. Adele reinvented it, but perhaps was not in her best vocal form on the Live at the Royal Albert Hall recording. Candace topped that. That’s saying a lot because I adore Adele with all my heart. I can’t imagine it get any better. I wish Keith had been able to comment though, but getting on his knees was pretty good!
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I did want to give Kree credit for the acappella beginning to her first song. I thought that was a great way to start the song. However, I think the praise that is being heaped on her is excessive. Every one of these contestants should be getting some constructive criticism each week on areas in which they can improve. On some occasions, that actually does happen but not nearly often enough. She did a decent rendition of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make it Through the Night”, but didn’t truly connect with the heart and soul of the song.
Kree has a sound that TPTB seem to feel is commercial and marketable. I don’t think anything else matters to them. Janelle probably didn’t make the best song choices, but I don’t think it would have mattered to the judges. They have been telegraphing their choice for the chosen female country favorite for the last two weeks. I do think that Keith was right when he said that the Garth Brooks song would have worked better if she did it with her guitar and virtually no other accompaniment.
Keith at least had the grace to tell Candace that she was now in his top three! As if she didn’t always belong there! I didn’t know that song, so I checked out The Cure’s original version on youtube. Then I listened to Adele’s version. It was good but Candace really made the song her own and just reworked it in an extraordinary way. You could see the emotion from that performance as Candace couldn’t hold back the tears.
Sometimes you find reasons to watch a season that has been underwhelming and filled with far too much machinations and manipulation.
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I love to watch American Idol and I do a lot of voting for my faves each year. But to be honest, I haven’t been voting at all this year. I was disappointed and sad to see Burnell leave, but I didn’t vote for him at all and I can’t really complain about his leaving. He is a star to me.
After Candice’s brilliant performances, I had to pick up the phone and cast my many votes. She touched me in so many ways with her rendition of each song and she made Nicki, Randy and Keith have ‘buyers remorse’ for not including her in their top 3 last week.
Mariah may be long-winded and complicated at times, but she knew what Candice is capable of and her pleading/begging for some jazz tones finally came out of Candice when she sang “Lovesong”.
It’s time for Lazaro to go so the girls can soar on next week. And it’s time to hear a blow out duet from Candice and Kree because I do believe Candice can bring out a different side of Kree that we haven’t witnessed yet.
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I actually enjoyed the themes last night with Candice soaring above all of them with heart and emotion. I am anxious to see how you will critique her, Rosanne. I want to understand better what it is that she does with her voice. Someone mentioned Sarah Vaughn. I was trying to remember some of the things Billie Holiday did with her voice. Whether she wins or not, Candice will not just fade away.
Even as a runner-up, I see her singing the National Anthem for the President and maybe even asked to sing with David Foster. I have been in Twitter with her for 16 months and she seems to be a geniunely likeable person who takes her art quite seriously. There is always room for another R&B singer, and I wish her much success!
I also enjoyed Kree’s songs and do see her in the Final 2, hopefully with Candice. I hope Dionne Warwick watched the show last night. She certainly was the powerhouse for Bacharach/David! No more debate about doing older themes. Do the research and make the song your own. I have been replaying both of Candice’s songs. WOW!
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Anita, the Judges’s Save can only be used up to but NOT including 5th place. So, tonight is the last night they can use it. I don’t think they will for Janelle, but would for the other girls. Hopefully, it will be Lazaro going home and no need to even think about the Save!.
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I don’t think Lazaro is going anywhere!!! I would say Janelle will be the bottom this week!!!
Wow! Did Candice ever stomp on those judges for not putting her in their top three, LOL…I will buy whatever album she puts out…
Oh My! I just kept thinking whiles she was singing this is what legends are all about, her voice is right up there if not above some of the late greats…she has the “IT” thang going on…she is above the Whitney/Mariah wanna be’s!!!
I absolutly agree that her performance last night…for me both of them…were the best ever sang on the idol stage!!!
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Kariann-Thanks for clarifying that for me. If Janelle ends up at the bottom, I really would like to see the judges save her. I think Janelle has done better in this competition than they seem to give her credit for!
Vonnie-I agree that most likely Lazaro isn’t going home this week sadly!
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