“American Idol” 2013: Results (Top 4 to Top 3)

The opening group number was to Beyonce’s
“Crazy in Love.” I love that song, but it was a terrible choice for this
scenario, and none of the Final 4 girls came off particularly well in it. Angie
and Kree sounded the worst, I think. It had a 1920’s
flapper edge since it’s being used in the upcoming “Great Gatsby” movie. But
the whole thing seemed harried and manic, right up to the sad handfuls of
glitter some of the back-up dancers threw at the end.

In his recap, Jimmy Iovine thought
Angie missed opportunities. Wednesday night He thought the Rihanna
song wasn’t a good choice, and Angie just didn’t sound good on the standard.
Agreed. Jimmy thought that Amber didn’t have enough time to really prepare for
the Pink song, but he thought she crushed “Funny Valentine.” Jimmy thought
Candice did a “magnificent” job Wednesday night, and while it wasn’t the best
she’s delivered in the competition, it was still head and shoulders above the
rest of the pack. Agreed. As for Kree, Jimmy thought
she did well on both songs, but she’s not living up to her potential in the
past few weeks. Kree’s light has certainly dimmed
considerably in the home stretch. I wonder what is going on there. She seems
absolutely miserable every time she’s on stage.

Season 7 winner David Cook came back. David’s was the only
season since I started watching this show back in 2004 that I gave up on midway
through. I just didn’t find any of the contestants likable or particularly
exciting. David and his runner-up, David Archuleta, were easily the best of the
bunch, and I’m surprised Archie didn’t have more post-show success. I like
several of Cook’s songs, but the one he performed here didn’t do a thing for me
— it was very shouty. We will not discuss his
ill-considered denim vest.

More “Gatsby” — boy, they are whoring out this movie
relentlessly — with…Will.i.am. I don’t understand his
career. I just don’t. He has no discernible talent that I can identify. His
singing is barely passable. His rapping is banal. His lyrics are appallingly
stupid. His dancing is fine. He has an ear for hooks, but that’s a producer/DJ,
not a pop star. Whoever joined him as a featured vocalist stole that number
whenever she was on stage, and she wasn’t even introduced by name.

On the other end of the spectrum we had the multi-talented
Harry Connick Jr., singing his new song. I really
like Harry and think he was a good mentor to the contestants last night — and he
is forever my hero for telling Randy Jackson to shut up on national television —
but I did not care for this slow, meandering ballad whatsoever. It frankly
sounded too low for him, and it’s his own song! Ryan Seacrest
asked if Harry and Randy had buried the hatchet after their little spat last
night, which prompted Harry to make a joke about couch time with Randy, which
prompted Ryan to make a joke about that always being the way things end up with
Randy. And Randy went, “Woah, woah,
Ryan!” Ah, good old gay panic…

Results: Ryan stressed that they were revealed in no
particular order. The first person safe was Angie, who I thought performed the
worst Wednesday night. I still think she’s talented and should make the finale,
but she was the weakest of the four this week. Candice was the next to join her
on the Safety Stools and THANK GOD FOR THAT. Candice was amazing Wednesday and
absolutely deserves to be in the finale. I will be devastated if she is not.

That left Kree
and Amber in the Bottom 2. It’s interesting to note that Kree was in the Top 2 last week, and the results tonight
were a combo from last week AND this week. Amber, however, was B2 both weeks,
and indeed she was eliminated.

This is not surprising. Even the judges seemed to be telling
Amber that she was done this week, and Amber herself
seemed defeated. This is tragic because Amber really does have enormous
potential as a pop star. Great voice. Great look. So likable.
I would not be the least bit a surprised to see Amber have significant
post-show success.

For her sing out, Amber struggled through “I Believe in You
and Me” — Baby Whitney until the very end. The poor thing could not finish the
song, and her father had to be called on to the stage to comfort her. That was difficult
to watch. Someone please get that girl a giant hug, a big carton of Ben &
Jerry’s, and a very long nap.

This article appears in May 1-7, 2013.