No fancy edited pre-credits sequence tonight: just Ryan on the stage, talking about how the top three got to do their hometown visits this week, while "Home" plays and he stands on the stage surrounded by just the family and friends of the top three. It's a little disturbing how many of them I know by sight.
Ryan promises us the finale week and claims that the competition is closer than ever, as it is every year. Then the top three -- Angie, Kree and Candice -- are trotted out so we can watch them bask in the lingering glow of their hometown visits. Which we then get to sample montage-style in a clip that, oddly enough, wouldn't have been out of place before the opening credits.
After the ads, Ryan tells us about tonight's three rounds: each finalist will sing a song picked by Jimmy Iovine, a song picked by the judges and a song picked by Idol production, whoever that is. If it's the people who design the sets and projections for each performance, those had better be good. Whatever the case, Kree is starting the night off with Jimmy's pick of P!nk's "Perfect." At least he won't be able to bitch about her song choice this week. And I've never bitched about Kree's voice, but it's a little short on power for this song, especially in comparison to the original. She coasts through a countrified version and Keith starts his critique by asking her how she felt about the song, which is never a good sign. Kree's a little lukewarm about it, as though we couldn't tell from the singing, and Keith says it just proves she's a country singer no matter what she sings. Nicki also still loves the quality of Kree's voice and likes how she seems less nervous tonight, but suggests some flat boots. Thanks for the musical advice, Nicki. Randy also didn't like the song for Kree, even though she can sing anything. Mariah calls the song choice "interesting" -- which is her word for "horrible" -- but she gets that Kree was saving something for later. Ryan comes out and explains to everyone that Jimmy told him he wanted to hear Kree sing a pop song. Well, mission accomplished, even though Kree isn't coy about this being a song she never would have picked herself. Looking forward to hearing the rock song he saddled Candice with, as well as Angie's country millstone.
Wow, I was kidding about that when I wrote it before the ads, but Jimmy's got Candice singing "One." At least it's the U2 song and not the Metallica one. She does better with it than Kree did with the P!nk, adding some gospel flavor. The band and backup singers sound good, too. Nicki starts out her critique with a little interview of Candice and whether she expected to make the top three. Nicki loves the song selection, and refers to a Mary J. Blige version that I wasn't previously aware of, saying Candice did it justice. Randy loved it, too, even though it wasn't perfect, but she connected with it emotionally. Mariah claims to be incredulous that Candice ever did anything but sing in her entire life. She also noticed that Candice didn't appear completely happy with her own performance, but tells her to cheer up. Keith loved the song choice and the power of her voice despite a few adrenalin-driven sharp notes. When Ryan comes out, he tells everyone that Candice had never heard any version of it before this week, and asks her how she pulled that off. She explains how she looked at the lyrics and figured out what it was about before doing anything else. In other words, in your face, Amber.
Turns out Jimmy didn't sandbag Angie with a country song after all, instead assigning her "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" by Elton John. There's a piano, but she's not playing it, which I'm sure she'll live to regret. I think Jimmy gave her this so she'd have a chance to show some vulnerability instead of a lot of oversinging. So she splits the difference by showing her vulnerability before oversinging. Randy smirkingly asks if it was hard to not play the piano. Did he have a critique? Not that he usually does. He did appreciate her restraint, which is odd coming from a man with giant letter R pinned to his jacket. Mariah was also expecting the piano, but calls this one of Angie's best performances. Keith basically says that even less is even more, and Nicki says it was a stellar vocal that didn't hit her emotionally like Angie has in the past. Ryan makes sure we all know Angie will be at the piano later, though.
With the Jimmy-pick round over, he comes to us from backstage to say his goal was to challenge the finalists. He says Kree didn't do as well as he hoped and Candice missed a couple of moments, so Angie currently has the lead from his perspective. For the second round, Candice is starting it off, but not before a clip of her hometown visit to St. Helena Island, South Carolina. She also stops in neighboring Fripp Island, where she used to work, as the SUV limo travels through crowds of people on the sides of the road. She gets to visit her office, answer the phone, drive a moped and ride out to the homestead in the motorcade for a mini family reunion. Then she visits a local cultural center, which is packed inside and hits downtown Beaufort at what the subtitles say is 4:15 AM. Man, I hope that's wrong. Riding in a parade, Candice calls it the best day of her life, then gives her first concert from a temporary stage after Governor Nikki Haley proclaims it Candice Glover Day. She sings however many songs, gives a shout-out to her folks and we're back in the auditorium, where she's going to have to sing "to Me" by Emeli Sande after presumably getting all choked up from watching that. Not familiar with the song, but it sounds like Randy probably picked it. Mariah's alleged critique is more about the hometown parade and support than anything else. Keith liked how the opening lyrics were more like a conversation and how she didn't even bother with the melody. Okay, then. Nicki says she couldn't even watch the homecoming clip and gets all choked up herself, saying how proud she is of Candice. Randy goes on about how the video demonstrated how anyone can come out of literally nowhere -- just grinding poverty and crushing misery -- and show up here. Uh, thanks for hating on Candice's hometown there, Randy. Ryan gives Nicki a chance to complete her thought, which ends up being about how Candice has overcome insecurities and cultural expectations regarding women's appearance to become the most confident person on the stage. And now it's Candice who's too emotional to talk.
So we're up to Angie, who's been joined by her brother and the "playoff beard" that he's keeping until she either wins or loses. In either case, it's wearing him at this point. Cue the clip: a private jet delivers Angie to Logan Airport after 9:00 PM, at which time it's not exactly the Beatles at JFK. Not that her mood appears dampened whatsoever. She does an interview at the local Fox affiliate and clowns around with the local weatherman on the air. The morning, she hops an SUV stretch limo into downtown to take in all the "Boston Strong" signs before proceeding to her actual hometown of Beverly, where she reunites with some friends at the local coffee shop... which is also not thronged. The downside and upside of being from a bigger city, I suppose.
She invites them along in the limo for the rest of the day and the first actual crowd she encounters is at her old primary school, where, after all, most of the people present have to be there. Then it's over to the house, where she hugs her parents and brother before waving to the crowd camped out across the street. There's the big parade and then her mini-concert out behind the high school, with her brother joining the band for her big original song, "You Set Me Free," which I still think has more to do with why she's in the top three than anything that's happened since Vegas. She gets the second P!nk song of the night, "Try," and does a much better, way more convincing job with it than Kree did with hers. Keith actually gives her props for staying away from the piano so far, and says she's never looked more comfortable without it. "Stay out of my head!" Nicki says, and shows Keith her notes that say essentially the same thing. "That's your phone number," he cracks. She asks what did it for Angie and she credits the home visit. Nicki also mentions Angie's resemblance to Miley Cyrus, whom she met at the Met Gala, not that that has anything to do with anything. Randy leads an unnecessary round of applause for Miley Cyrus and babbles before getting that #inittowinit hashtag up on the screen, which is what he shows up for every week in the first place. Mariah -- oh, who cares.
Moving on to Kree, whose thoughts get drowned out by feedback from her dangling in-ear monitors, so let's just go right to the clip. She arrives at the Jasper County Airport, where a small crowd that probably represents the whole town has turned out. She arrives at what I assume is her grandparents' house to hug her family, and then hug a bunch more people at a crawfish boil on Friday night. The morning, she and her sister go visit the house they grew up in with their late parents. We're reminded that Kree lost her dad at 12 and her mom at 19. The house is still standing, but it looks abandoned and in considerable disarray. The sisters cry in each other's arms for a bit. So far Kree is winning the hometown visit, at least. There's the parade and a shot of a plumbing company sign where some wag has posted, "Kreem always rises to the top." With those wordplay skills, I hope they're good plumbers.
She gets to check out one of her beloved rodeos and rides the mechanical bull for the cameras. Her concert is at Ford Park Arena, an actual indoor venue, and it appears to have the biggest crowd of the three. She sings "See You Again" and dedicates it to her parents, and then we're back in the auditorium so she can sing the judges' pick, "Here Comes Goodbye" by Rascal Flatts. So far everyone tonight has done better than Kree's first song and now so does Kree. I just wish someone was going to make her sing a Pam Tillis song already with that voice of hers. Nicki talks about the power of an emotional trigger, which going home was for Kree, not to mention the strength it takes to be this young with no parents. Randy says that this is one of the best top threes ever, as always, and says it was unbelievably beautiful. Mariah's still almost overcome by the video and how Kree was able to get through the song after seeing it and how she'll always have this and on and on. Even Keith is a little sniffly as he says Kree had him from beginning to end. Ryan comes out and gives the voting instructions, adding, "We're shifting gears." Thank God.
Jimmy's back backstage with another post-round post-mortem, telling us how hard it is to sing when all choked up. He gives the judges props for the songs they picked for Angie & Kree, but Candice's not so much, saying they should have given her something that not just anyone could sing. He's giving Kree that round. Then we're back in the seats with Ryan, who is surrounded by the rest of the top ten so he can plug the summer tour. After that, he introduces Angie, who is singing the production pick, "Maybe." And she's back at the piano, although she's playing it one-handed so she can gesture dramatically with the other. I'm not sure what's up with all the Emeli Sande tonight. Is she going to be performing on the show tomorrow or something? Randy's focus is on the piano, but he says he thinks Angie became a complete performer. Mariah giggles openly in his face, and says that it's a tough song to sing that kept Angie in her "belting" register. She says she has nothing negative to say, as though she ever does. Keith says she's found her groove and jokingly suggests singing under the piano week. Nicki: "That's all you got?" It is. Nicki says Angie has grown a lot, and is no longer pageant-y or doing the zombie-stare into the camera. That's true: she can zombie-stare in all directions now.
Kree's production-chosen song is "Better Dig Two" by The Band Perry. Leaving aside the entirely irrelevant fact that that's one of my least favorite band names ever, it's not a great match for Kree. It's a dark, pissed-off song that doesn't really fit Kree's sweet voce and makes her seem out of her depth, if you'll forgive the pun. Mariah was convinced by it, however, saying she has a lot of pain of her own. Yes, we can tell. Keith liked the song, but agrees with me that it didn't feel right. Nicki not only agrees that it wasn't in Kree's comfort zone, but that whoever picked it "should be stooooned." Or maybe already was. However, Nicki says she's buying Kree's album no matter what. Randy goes from how great she is to how that was a bad song without any transition whatsoever. So he does have some skills.
Candice is wrapping it up with "Somewhere" from West Side Story. Oh, Idol production, you so cray-cray. This has grand finale written all over it, with Candice all diva-ed out at center stage surrounded by a full orchestra. And it's amazing. She blows the roof off the place in the final chorus, naturally, which is an even more impressive achievement given that she already blew the doors off in the first one and you wouldn't think it would be possible to build up enough atmospheric pressure after that. All four judges give her a standing ovation, and Keith is flabbergasted. "How do you do that?" he demands in frank amazement. He says if you want to vote for Candice, call the number and if you don't, call your doctor because you don't have a pulse. Nicki only has four words: "See you week." Randy does some of his trademark hollering, and Mariah congratulates her and thanks her for singing Mariah's parents' song. Ryan gives the voting numbers and I can't help wondering if maybe switching around the order between rounds is going to confuse people with the numbers. Or maybe I'm not giving enough credit to people who call in to vote on American Idol. We get another look at them during the replay of tonight's performances, and then Ryan is back with the finalists and Jimmy who Ryan puts on the spot to name a winner for the third round. Jimmy says Candice not only won the round, he won the night, although he blows his line there at the end. Ryan flogs hard for votes and says the farewells as though there aren't three episodes left in the season. But who's counting?
M. Giant is a Minneapolis- based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter, or just e-mail him at m.giant[at]gmail.com.
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