I'm Here Because of Fox

Tissues were in short supply as there were lots of tears during the hometown visits, during the singing, during the judges' critiques (even Jimmy Iovine's); even Trained Seal was fighting tears though no one was crying for him.

I need to get up early for work tomorrow since I played hokey today for a family outing, so I'm going to try and limit my recaps of the judges' comments. They didn't say anything real outrageous or much different from what they've been saying for the last 5 months anyway.

As usual the chick judges both had short skirts tonight. Glitter Girl went a step further and bared her midriff, which Trained Seal noticed and called attention to during his intro. Perhaps Mariah felt that with Amber Holcomb gone someone had to step in and fill the fashion void created by her departure.

Tonight the Top 3 sang three songs all chosen by others, so there was a chance that the songs might actually be something besides ballads. The Round 1 songs were chosen by Andy Cap. Round 2 was the judges' choice. Yes, all 4 judges chose each song (or so we were led to believe), denying me all sorts of opportunities to make fun of the choices and the judges. The final round of songs were chosen by the "Idol production team" as Trained Seal identified them. For multiple reasons that should seem obvious by now I'm going to assume that "Idol production team" = "Nigel Lythgoe".

First up was Kree Harrison, who was asked to sing Pink's "Perfect" in the death spot because Andy Cap wanted to challenge Kree with a pop song. Her performance was solid but not spectacular. I did notice that Kree seemed to have fun on stage, especially when she sang the lyric "I'm still around." I also noticed that the cute Asian backup singer was back with her leather, lace and fancy hat. The judges basically thought it was OK. Jaws recommended that Kree wear flat cowboy boots instead of high heeled ones so that Kree would move around on stage more. Sole Survivor dropped a YO.

Candice Glover sang U2's "One" per the Mary J. Blige arrangement that Andy Cap recommended. I vaguely remember that Mary J. first sang this song on an Idol show some years ago. I have to admit that the original song is one of my very favorites so it was hard for me to adjust to the more up tempo, loud Mary J. version that Candice sang. It was just OK for me, not as emotional as the original. Janelle Arthur was in the house and loved Candice's performance. Lazaro Argos was sitting next to Janelle and didn't appear to be quite as excited. Jaws shouted out to her "secret husband" Jimmy Iovine for the song choice. Both chick judges name dropped Mary J. Sole Survivor dropped a YO. Trained Seal was amazed that Candice sang that song without ever hearing either the U2 version or the Mary J. Blige version of the song before this week and wanted to know Candice's secret. The "secret" was that Candice read the lyrics first.

Andy Cap selected Elton John's "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" for Angie Miller because he wanted her to play the piano. Angie decided to have some other dude play it instead. Despite the fact that it is a dramatic song and the fog machine was on overdrive again Angie wasn't really that dramatic. She was actually pretty controlled and subdued. I was very surprised. The judges admired Angie's restraint but Mr. Kidman actually wanted just a little bit more. Give Keith an inch and he'll carefully ask for a mile. The judges all wondered why Angie didn't played the piano, as did Andy Cap when he reported from his bunker. I don't remember her answer. Nevertheless Jimmy thought Angie won Round 1.

Before their Round 2 performances each contestant's hometown visit was relived in special editions of the Coca-Cola Treatment.
Candice visited her old office, rode a moped, visited her family and a community center, had a parade, and performed a concert where the governor of South Carolina proclaimed it Candice Glover Day in the state.
Angie was interviewed by the Fox news anchors in Boston, visited her friends at a coffee shop, went to her home to see her cat, visited her elementary school, had a parade, and performed a concert at her former high school. The Boston bombings were mentioned often by Angie and by the Fox news anchors.
Kree had a crawfish boil with her family, visited the house that she grew up in which was not in the best of shape, went to a rodeo, had a parade, and performed a concert at a local arena. Her deceased parents were mentioned often by Kree and her sister who accompanied her for the entire weekend.

In honor of Round 2 being the traditional judges' choice, I'm going to recap the performances in the traditional style.

St. Helena Island, South Carolina's Candice Glover, "Next to Me" by Emeli Sande: A ballad to start but the tempo picked up as the song went along. The arrangement was similar to the first song but was a little more comfortable for me since I had never heard this song before. Candice sang this song with more emotion and less runs than the first song. It was good but not great but better than Round 1. Jaws was speechless again but was crying too, then finally got out how proud she was of Candice. Oh, now she's proud of Candice now that Amber's gone.

Beverly, Massachusetts's Angie Miller, "Try" by Pink: This song was a more up-tempo pop song than the melismatic ballads that Angie usually sings. Even so, Angie showed off the big notes and dramatic poses like she usually does with the ballads. It was a decent vocal, though. Mr. Kidman and Sole Survivor high-fived each other, making it obvious who chose this song. Jaws asked Mr. Kidman to stop reading her mind, then finally realized that Angie looks like Miley Cyrus. Glitter Girl called Angie a homecoming queen. Sole Survivor dropped a YO.

Woodville, Texas's Kree Harrison, "Here Comes Goodbye" by Rascal Flatts: The judges selected a country ballad, which Kree hasn't sang for a while to prove that she could sing more than country ballads. Other than 1 or 2 word slips her vocal was very good, her best in a number of weeks, showing why she should have been singing country ballads every week. There was a fair amount of real emotion too. All of the judges were crying as each one mentioned Kree's deceased parents. I guess because it hasn't been mentioned in several weeks as part of Nigel's plan to eliminate her, the judges forgot about the orphan thing until they saw the hometown video.

After the break, Andy Cap reported from the bunker that he was amazed that all three singers were able to sing after watching their emotional hometown videos, criticized the judges for their choice of Candice's song, and awarded Round 2 to Kree.

Round 3, Nigel's Choice, began at 20 minutes to 10 so once again the pressure was on Trained Seal to get this done on time. Once again I'll recap old school style.

Angie, "Maybe" by Emeli Sande: Before tonight I had never heard of Emeli Sande but two of her songs were featured tonight. Once again I learned about a current singer by watching this show. I was forced to look up Emeli Sande online because Trained Seal kept neglecting to announce the original singers. As promised, Angie was back at the piano but I don't think she actually played it much since she kept waving her left hand in a dramatic fashion. There was no subtlety to this performance, Angie poured on all the drama, emotion, and melisma that she could muster. So naturally the judges complimented Angie for not doing that. I will acknowledge that Angie has cut back on the drama and staring at the camera compared to what she was doing before, but it's still annoying.

Kree, "Better Dig Two" by The Band Perry: Kree stayed with the country for her final song tonight, following up her country ballad with a country pop song complete with a banjo and a fiddle. It was OK, not great or memorable but not really boring either. It was just there. Glitter Girl talked about her pain and sorrow to try and relate to Kree. The other judges criticized Nigel's song choice. Jaws went further and said that she wanted to stone the guy who picked the song. No word on whether or not Nigel will hire a bodyguard.

Candice, "Somewhere" from West Side Story: Candice closed the show with a show tune that Nigel might have chosen to make Angie jealous. The arrangement was very dramatic too, starting with a timpani drum roll and a full orchestra. After playing with pop songs for her first two performances Candice belted out a big note ballad like only she can, and in the process made both Kree and Angie sound like amateurs. To paraphrase Captain Jack after Jordin Sparks' performance of another show tune, I think Candice could have a hit record with that. I finally felt a goose bump and the judges finally gave someone a standing O. Sole Survivor finally dropped multiple YOs, 4 in total, and proclaimed that it was one of the best vocal performances in the history of the show. That's 2 for Candice this season. I don't think even Carrie Underwood had that many.

Andy Cap emerged from his bunker to declare that Candice's performance was the best of the night as well as the best of the round. Trained Seal cut 2 minutes out of our late local news for this, just to make it far for Candice.

Things We Learned Tonight: Levi's business is doing so well they could pay the San Francisco 49ers millions of mullah to slap their name on the new football stadium. Nationwide Insurance tails its customers with helicopters. Sole Survivor thinks Idol inspires people. Jaws still wants Mr. Kidman out of her head, secretly married Andy Cap after Kree broke off their engagement, and watches Angie's performances over and over at home. Glitter Girl has a lot of pain, prefers sorrow to anger, and can't come to terms with the fact that Candice was a travel agent. Trained Seal has been a victim of swatting and wonders how the performers can sing songs that they've never heard before. Andy Cap wonders how the performers can sing songs after watching emotional videos. I learned there was a singer named Emeli Sande.

Your Three Stars of the Night: Candice's final performance was indeed the best of the night. Angie's first performance and Kree's second performance were also star worthy. Interestingly, the three best performances were the last performance of each round and there was one from each contestant. There really is some magic to the closer spot. Even more interestingly, I actually agreed with Andy Cap's assessment of each round.

The Final Score: 6-1/2 ballads; 5 big notes; 3 short skirts; 10 YOs from Sole Survivor; no #POWs from Glitter Girl; 4 standing Os; 5 Nigel Lythgoe mentions; 3 mentions of former Idol contestants, 2 mentions of former Idol winners; 1 mention of a former Idol judge; 4 name drops: 2 by Jaws, plus 1 each by Sole Survivor and Glitter Girl; 4 cute Asian back up singer sightings; 4 Andy Cap sightings; 1 one-handed piano player; 1 governor sighting; 1 Fox News anchor sighting; 1 bare midriff sighting; 1 crawfish boil; 1 shout out to Fox's Connecticut affiliate from a sign waiving fan in the audience (I'd guess she won a contest); 2 performers who had multiple songs sung tonight; numerous mentions of the Boston bombings and Kree's deceased parents; numerous tears; and 1 goose bump. Props to everybody!

The Fearless Prediction: Angie Miller has been destined for the finale ever since Angela Miller sang at her audition. I don't see that train stopping yet. Candice Glover has needed knockout performances to stay in the competition because the tweeners and Nigel are not big fans of non-petite dress sizes, and once again she delivered one. I don't know how she has been able to keep this pace up but she has been. Kree Harrison's performances have been much better the last 2 weeks after she seemed to be tiring out. Tonight I think she was just as good as Angie, but because Angie is Nigel's it girl and Candice keeps pulling these outrageously good vocals from out of nowhere I believe it will be Kree who will be joining the other eliminated contestants for the group numbers next week and it'll be Angie versus Candice for the title next week, when I hope Nigel doesn't pull out the boxing analogies again.