Amber Holcomb paid homage to the late Whitney Houston when she sang “I Believe in You & Me.” (Photo by FOX’s Michael Becker)
By: Jacob Elyachar
Thousands of girls auditioned across the country to follow the footsteps of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Jessica Sanchez.
Only a few lucky hundred were able to head to Hollywood to face the Idol judges (Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj) and only 20 of them made it to the Mirage in Las Vegas.
Now, 10 girls remain and it is now America’s turn to pick their the Class of 2013’s Top Five girls.
Who stepped up their game and who fell flat? Read on to find out!
The show’s resident Wild Card Zoanette Johnson was the first to take the stage as she delivered an intriguing cover of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” While it was a crowd-pleaser, her vocals were all over the place. Zoanette has a career ahead of her but that particular performance was a mess. C-
Breanna Steer tackled one of Beyoncé’s unheard tracks: “Flaws and All.” Despite its strong finish, it was a boring performance. Nicki stated that it was a wrong song and a bad performance. However, Mariah and Keith stated that she has star power on her but she is a bust. D+
19-year-old college student Aubrey Cleland traded her love of up-tempo songs for Fergie’s signature ballad: “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” It was a solid vocal performance that showed off her range and received a standing ovation from the audience. This was her best performance on the show and Aubrey received strong comments from the judges. A-
Last week, Janelle Arthur messed up big time with her cover of Lady Antebellum’s “Just a Kiss.” This week, the Country singer delivered a subpar cover of Elvis’s classic “If I Can Dream.” While the judges liked the performance, it felt like eating vanilla ice cream without toppings. It was just plain and had no excitement to it. C-
Camp Mariah alumnus Tenna Torres took a very interesting route and performed an interesting take on Faith Hill’s “Lost.” The judges stated that it was a great performance, they advised her not to let the camera throw her off her game. B+
Idol fan-favorite Angie Miller tackled last season’s standout Colton Dixon’s “Never Gone.” While it was risky, she made that song better than the original. Nicki stated that she wanted to hear Angie’s album already and Randy stated, “A star was born on this stage.” A
Amber Holcomb tackled the late Whitney Houston’s “I Believe in You and Me” from The Preacher’s Wife. This performance just gave me chills and Amber would have made Whitney proud and delivered an outstanding vocal that received a standing ovation from all four judges. A+
Another strong performer of the evening was Kree Harrison. The frontrunner delivered a smooth cover of Faith Hill’s “Stronger” that blew everyone away. This girl has a bright future with or without her participation in this season of Idol. A
The second to late contestant of the night was Adriana Latonio. Alaska’s favorite daughter delivered an intriguing cover of Destiny’s Child’s “Stand Up for Love.” It was an interesting choice of song but the audience did not feel anything emotion coming from her. I think she could be in big trouble on Thursday night. D+
Candice Glover closed the show with her take on John Legend’s “Ordinary People.” This was a pure magical performance that featured astonishing vocals from the Idol frontrunner and received a standing ovation from Keith, Randy and Mariah. A+
Tomorrow night, the Idol guys have their last stand on the Beatles LOVE stage!
