“American Idol” 2013: Music from Detroit (Top 8 Perform)

It was Detroit
night on “Idol,” which I initially interpreted to mean Motown, but it was
actually much broader than that – we even got some Madonna in there. Smokey
Robinson was our guest mentor. He seems like a nice man. I wish he would stop
doing things to his head.

Candice Glover opened the show with “Heard it Through the
Grapevine.” It opened really slowly, which I did not care for. And whoever set
up the shot from below, with the stage light flickering on and off above her,
was an idiot – that was super distracting. Candice had tempo issues through the
verse, but the singing was great even though parts of the song hit the lower
edge of Candice’s register. She kept getting better and better as the song went
on, and Etta James’d that last note. Judges all loved
it.

Because this show
cannot be less than two hours long, we had three groups in addition to the
eight remaining soloists. Group 1 was Kree and
Janelle singing “Like a Prayer” by Detroit native Madonna. Their voices did not
work well together. Kree is just so much better than
Janelle; Janelle’s whiny notes, pitch issues, and weaknesses were underscored
here. Nikki Minaj summed it up by saying that Kree looked like a superstar who flew in to do a duet with
an “American Idol” contestant – she just totally outshined Janelle.

LazaroArbos did “For Once in My Life” by Stevie Wonder.
I thought Jimmy Iovine was noticeably restrained with
Lazaro in the coaching session, given how furious he
was with Lazaro last week. This started out really
slowed down and worked nicely as a ballad. But then the tempo picked up halfway
through. It was one of Lazaro’s better vocals but it
was also noticeably lacking in energy until the last chorus. The whole thing
still felt amateurish, and Lazaro himself seemed over
it. During the judging Lazaro kept talking over
anyone who was saying anything critical – I believe he actually said, “It’s all
good, Boo” to Randy Jackson, which is wrong on EVERY
level. And the judges almost seemed to be apologizing to Lazaro
for critiquing him last week. Oh, what a fucking mess this situation is. Nikki Minaj said Lazaro did a great job
and it’s because he stopped listening to Jimmy Iovine.
Nikki, you in danger, girl.

Janelle Arthur did “Keep Me Hanging On,” which she performed
sitting on a stool and strumming a guitar. Cool, new different take on a really
familiar song. This was the second straight week that I loved what Janelle put
out there, and she’s starting to bring me over to her side. Mariah Carey just
kept screaming, “Janelle at her finest!” But I can’t hate, because she was
right. Nikki weirdly thought her voice wasn’t as good as normal, because she
was smiling too much. OK…

Devin Velez did “Tracks of My Tears,” which was a good
choice vocally. But Devin was wrestling with the tempo in rehearsal and that
came out a bit on stage as well. Ultimately Devin’s issue is that he’s simply
not connecting, with either the song or the audience. Guy can sing – probably
the best male vocalist left – but there’s nothing about him that’s magnetic. This
performance in particular felt very old-fashioned, and even though it’s a 50-year-old
song, that doesn’t have to be the case. Nikki said that Devin was looking like
a “ripe banana,” which was apparently a good thing.

Group
2: Candice, Angie, and Amber on “I’m Gonna Make You
Love Me” by The Supremes, which is a song I LOVE. Amber had rhythm issues and Angie slid off
the pitch toward the end of her verse. Overall I thought this had some nice
moments, but it needed a few more hours of rehearsal. Amber was easily the
weakest of the three.

Burnell Taylor did “My Cherie
Amour” by Stevie Wonder. I thought I would love this, but I actually hated it.
The phrasing on the title – the emphasis on “share-REE am-ORE” – really turned
me off. His phrasing was awkward in parts, and he sounded really pinched and
fully terrible after the key change. I hated it, I’m sorry. I like Burnell, but I hated that. And I thought he looked very
strange in that outfit and no glasses. The judges fawned all over it. And hey,
guys, did you know that Burnell is from Louisiana?
Like Randy? And that he is in it to win it?

Angie Miller picked “You Better Shop Around.” She put a
slinky rock spin on it, which was…different. I liked the impulse here, but the
execution was deeply flawed. The song was too low for Angie. She was trying to
be cool and fun strutting all over the stage, but it didn’t really work. I
think she flubbed a line or two. And nothing about this felt like Angie. She’s
the moody/emo singer-songwriter, not rocker girl.
This just wasn’t a good showcase for Angie at all. Randy thought the
performance was really pitchy. Mariah thought it was a bad song choice. Nikki said
that Angie doesn’t need to try to be something she’s not.

Amber Holcomb sang “Lately” by Steview
Wonder and she absolutely killed it. Her best vocal in weeks.
She sang it flawlessly, looked flawless – not a single thing was off about that
performance. Tens across the board.

Group 3: the guys sang
“Can’t Help Myself.” Total mess. Lazaro completely forgot one of
his solo sections, Devin was more alive in this than he was in his solo, and Burnell actually had some fun. Nikki Minaj
said that it was Hollywood Week all over again, that she was going to pretend
she never even saw it, that Lazaro fell flat as a
pancake, and told them to get off the stage. Awkward moments ensued when both Burnell and Devin said they learned their parts, and gave
sharp side eyes to Lazaro. Seriously, he is the
worst. If you are still on Team Lazaro, please open
your eyes. And ears. At this point he’s coming across
terribly.

Kree Harrison closed the show with “Don’t Play That Song
(You Lied)” by Aretha Franklin. Normally I love Kree,
but this was the weakest we have seen her since Hollywood Week. There were
parts where she looked almost in pain, or irritated to be singing. It certainly
wasn’t bad, but not what you expect to close the show. Definitely
a letdown after her duo performance and Amber’s solo number.

Predictions: The Bottom 3 should be Angie, Lazaro, and Burnell or Devin,
with Lazaro going home. That’s not going to happen. I
think Devin is basically doomed for another trip to the bottom. Rounding it out
will probably be Burnell. Angie could make a surprise
appearance down there. But even if she does somehow get the lowest votes, the
judges will use the Save on her.

This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 2, 2013.