In a night filled of abysmal and average performances, Amber Holcomb’s cover of “Lately” was the best song of the night. (Photo property of FOX’s Michael Becker)
By: Jacob Elyachar
Tonight, the eight remaining contestants tackled the songs of Detroit.
Who made the Detroit icons proud? Were the judges a little harsher this week after Jimmy Iovine’s truth bombs?
Read on to find out….
Up first was frontrunner Candice Glover. She made guest mentor Smokey Robinson cry when the Motown icon saw her perform “I Who Have Nothing” weeks ago. She tackled one of Marvin Gaye’s hits: “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” It was very Jazzy but there was a distracting white light through the first half that kind of distracted the audience. While the judges gave her good remarks, it was near perfection but could have been more exciting. B+
For the first duet of the night, both Janelle Arthur and Kree Harrison tackled the Queen of Pop’s biggest hit: “Like A Prayer.” This was a bad combination and their voices did not mesh well together. In addition, the choir overpowered them as well. Hopefully, the girls will be able to recover. C-
During his meeting with Lazaro, the Kennedy Center Honoree told him “To go out and do what you like.” He delivered a mini-comeback with his performance of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life.” While it was a little better than last week, there were still pitch problems. If Lazaro does not control these pitch problems, he is going home. C-
Idol’s resident Zumba instructor Janelle Arthur took a big risk and did her own arrangement to the Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hanging On.” While Mariah Carey stated that it was Janelle at her finest, it bored me to tears and I wish that Janelle stuck with the melody. C
Devin Velez bravely tackled guest mentor Smokey Robinson’s signature song: “Track of My Tears.” He had strong vocals but had minor pitch problems but overall it was Devin’s best performance of the season. B
The performances began to get stronger after Devin left the stage as Idol’s three strongest female singers: Candice, Amber and Angie delivered the best group performance of the night when they tackled the Supremes’ “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” and received a standing ovation from Keith, Randy and Nicki. A-
Another A- performance came from Louisiana’s own Burnell Taylor, who covered Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” and hit it out of the park and would have made Stevie proud.
After Burnell left the stage, Angie tackled Smokey’s “Shop Around” that showed that she could rock out. While the judges did not like this performance, it was great to see Angie come out of her shell and away from her piano. B-
The best performance of the night belonged on Amber Holcomb, who delivered an astonishing cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Lately,” that received a standing ovation from all four judges. In the words of Randy Jackson, Amber is in it to win it!! A
Devin, Lazaro and Burnell butchered the Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).” It was boring, out of tune and not appealing to the ears. Nicki called them out on the mess and stated that it reminded her of an abysmal Hollywood Week performance. These guys could be tomorrow night’s Bottom Three. F
Kree closed the show by taking one of the biggest risks of the night when she tackled the Queen of Soul’s “Don’t Play That Song.” This was not one of her best performances and if she was going to due Aretha right, she should have covered either “Respect,” “Freeway of Love” or “Think,” because this performance was a train wreck. D+
Tomorrow night, Colton Dixon, One Republic, Katharine McPhee and Keith Urban will provide the night’s entertainment and one contestant will have to sing for their life.
