And the Winner is............. Candice Glover!

I’m not sure who picked the opening song for all of the contestants from the Top 10 but, it was so not the right song choice for the finale. I understand the message that was given but, the contestants needed a song that contained a bit more vocals than that song gave. Sorry Idol, but that song choice sucked!

It’s so refreshing seeing the eliminated contestants perform with actual working Musicians. Just to name a few… The Band Perry and Janelle meshed very well together. Janelle really rocked out with them, she was so comfortable with that band, and it was very apparent that that was her genre, Country! I loved that ‘Idol Sabotage’ idea. It was very entertaining. (Laugh out loud) Mariah Carey will always be the ultimate ‘DIVA’, her singing a handful of her past hits in that gorgeous dress was perfect. Emeli Sande and Amber performing her song ‘Next to Me’ was pretty decent. I would’ve liked to see Amber with more of a powerhouse singer, but that performance was okay, I liked it. Now as for Candice and Jennifer Hudson, WHOAAAAA!!! American Idol should have prepped us somehow for that performance, the vocals on those two together was UNBELIEVABLE!!!

American Idol was full of tons of surprises tonight, them placing Angie with Adam Lambert singing ‘Titanium’, then to have Angie performing with her idol Jessie J was even more of a show. I honestly cannot wait to see Angie’s career take off, because I know with such a versatile voice like hers, so much success is bound to come her way. After that amazing performance yet another weird combo thrown together and worked in the contestants favor. Kree performing with Randy Jackson and Keith Urban by her side, along with Travis Barker on the drums was so interesting to watch. Kree has such a promising career ahead of her in the Country world, there’s no doubt about that. 

There were a few performances tonight I would have loved to seen instead of others, for example, I REALLY wanted to see Burnell perform ‘Ready for Love’ with India Arie. I would have rather enjoyed seeing that performance instead of that performance from Psy. The performance from Psy just seemed like a waste of time and energy. Tonight was just bittersweet in my opinion.

At the end of it all Candice and Kree finally performed together, and the results being presented afterwards. The winner of American Idol Season 12 is Candice Glover. And I honestly couldn’t be happier with that. Candice deserved that title. Week after week she constantly grew, and her performances were amazing from the start. This was Candice’s third season on the show, and she FINALLY got somewhere with it! I’m so proud of her! I wish her and Kree nothing but success, which I’m sure they’ll have. I can’t wait to see them soar. Good luck you guys. : )

See you guys next season! 

-RON E.

The Elimination of Angie Miller

 

Jimmy couldn’t have said it any better tonight or yesterday. Round 1 went to Angie. As for Round 2, it went to Kree for channeling her emotions into her song. And the final round went to Candice, which turned out to be the best performance of the night. Last night the contestants really stepped it up, and it was a shocker for me from one of the contestants.

Lauren Alaina, season 10 alumni, this is the first time I’ve heard or seen something musically from her since her appearance on season 10. I liked her performance and song a lot. It was very confident, and sexy like. Now only if Kree could channel that energy into her performance, she’d be better off. The next guest performer was Alicia Keys. I just love her new hair cut, although I think she looks slightly better with longer hair, either way, I’m a fan and I will always be a fan of that 14 Grammy winning Musician. As for Mariah's new single featuring Miguel, I loved the look and the song. It was HOTT!! Whatever you're doing Mariah, keep it up, you're GORGEOUS! (Laugh out loud)

Ryan finally announces the first person in the finale, which was Candice Glover, leaving the bottom two contestants to be Kree Harrison and Angie Miller.

I had REALLY hoped to see Angie in the finale, but unfortunately that didn’t happen! Kree has made it into the final two along with Candice and I am so furious with this. I wanted to see Angie vs. Candice in the finale. Angie deserved that spot since the beginning. I am so disappointed! Angie be strong, because I know things will get much better for you in the near future. See you soon, and good luck with your future endeavors.

Kree has shown no growth in this competition in my opinion, and for these past couple of weeks she has been seemingly getting by. Although, I must say I predicted she’d be in the finale WEEKS AGO, due to America favoring her week after week. They seem to love her for some odd reason. She’s okay, and I believe she shall have a decent career ahead of her, but Angie deserved her spot in the finale, NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Kree, consider yourself the lucky! Candice, do your thing in this finale, I’m rooting for you!

See you guys at the finish line.

-RON E.

The Elimination of Amber Holcomb

Jimmy’s critique this week couldn’t have been better. I agree with everything he said about each contestant. Candice was the strongest of the week, but not the strongest we’ve seen her. As for the other three contestants, they fell short unfortunately. There are a few contestants that have definitely earned their spot in the finale, and others not so much.

David Cook, the winner of season 7, and Will.i.Am were the guest performers of the week. In spite of me not really caring for Will.iAm’s new song, David and him both did their thing with their performances. Also, go purchase David’s single titled “Laying Me Low”.

As Ryan FINALLY got to the results, he sent Angie and Candice into the Top 3 thankfully, leaving Amber Holcomb and Kree Harrison to hear results after the next commercial.

Amber ended up being the least voted contestant, as we all probably predicted. There’s no save left, so the least voted has no other option. I wanted and hoped Amber would stay over Kree, but it didn’t happen. Amber’s stage presence has grown so much right before our eyes; I just hate to see her go. In spite of her elimination, I highly doubt that will be the last we see of Amber, with legs like hers, a voice like hers, and a presence like hers, I’m sure we’ll see her again. This is not the end Amber, it’s just the beginning, hold your head up, and be strong. Good luck Amber.

Now as for Kree, I don’t really understand the big hype about her, at times she seems so dull, I just don’t understand what America sees in her, especially over Amber. I DID NOT want to see Kree in the Top 3 and I definitely don’t want to see her in the Top 2, let alone winning the competition. I just hope the rest of the public comes to realization about this SOON. With that being said, Angie and Candice, you two have to give it your ALL next week, do us all the favor and knock Kree out of the competition! PLEASE!

Until we meet again, next Thursday (Laugh out loud).

-RON E.

The 'SAFE' Elimination

I’m starting this week’s blog off by asking ‘What exactly was the deal with Ryan being late after that video clip they showed?’ I’m not sure if that was done purposely, but, it made the contestants feel and look awkward.. Let that be a lesson to Idol, make sure that Ryan is on time after commercial breaks, and NEVER throw Angie on the teleprompter first! (Laugh out loud)

Stefano Langone, another Idol alumni from a past season. He was another favorite of mines that had gotten eliminated a bit too early in his season. The next alumni to appear was Lee DeWyze, a winner of a past season. I haven’t really seen or heard much of those two since their appearance on Idol, but it seems like they’re both getting by pretty well and making music so, they’re making moves, and that is all it is about at the end of the day. As for the appearance made by Drake to Candice, it was a little surprising. Ryan tricked us by stating Drake left audio for her, in reality he was there. I’m sure we can thank Nicki for his appearance. All Candice talks about on Twitter is Drake following her, and about how much of a fan she is of him, so it was nice to see her meet him finally. I wouldn’t mind seeing a music collaboration from those two actually. Who knows, we may actually get to see that in future. Only time will tell.

Ryan finally gets to the results; he started by dividing the remaining contestants into pairs again. One pair being the least voted of the week, and the other pair being the most voted of the week. The pair on the left side of the stage contained Amber and Candice, and the pair on the right side of the stage contained Angie and Kree.

The two contestants on the left side of the stage were the least voted, meaning Amber and Candice was the bottom 2. 

Thankfully, neither contestant was eliminated. Due to the 1 contestant save the judges had this season not being used; it gives the show another week. Next week’s votes will be added with this week’s votes to determine the next eliminated contestant. The four remaining ladies need to REALLY step it up next week, because the stakes has just gotten higher. They need to prove they deserve to make it in that finale and sweep the competition away. Play time is over!

See you next week you guys.

-RON E.

The Elimination of Janelle Arthur

Jimmy and I slightly disagreed on Angie once again. I agree with the fact that something is missing with Angie, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. But, Angie KILLED her second performance with “Halo” last night! Angie could’ve done a little more with that song, but in my opinion she did that song justice. So Jimmy, take your comments about that song choice elsewhere. Now on the other hand, everything he said about Janelle’s performances last night was dead on.

Clay Aiken and Fantasia Barrino were the two alumni’s to grace the stage tonight, along with a special appearance from Latoya London. I’ll probably get some type of backlash for this, but during season 3 Latoya was my favorite contestant of that season. I felt she actually should have won over Fantasia back then. I also had no idea she was on Broadway with the “Color Purple” with Fantasia. It was just nice to see Latoya coming back home to Idol, in hopes to revive her career. On Fantasia’s behalf, tonight she looked stunning with her burgundy hair and her pure white gown. You can tell Fantasia has been through it since her absence, but she’s ready to get back out there like no other. Fantasia’s performance was so refreshing. I wish nothing but the best to her, Latoya London and Clay Aiken.

The bottom 2 contestants tonight were Kree Harrison and Janelle Arthur.

Janelle ended up being the least voted. It was very obvious who was the weakest was out of the two. Janelle is no comparison to Kree, or any of the other contestants for that matter. Sorry Janelle, but it was your time. I wish you nothing but the best with your career.

Next week, we have our top 4. This Top 4 we have is mighty powerful. We have a Diva fight on our hands, and I honestly can’t wait to see it. Stay tuned.

Next week it is you guys. See you then.

-RON E.

The Elimination of Lazaro Arbos

Tonight they split the remaining 6 contestants in pairs of two, meaning one pair is the most voted contestants, and another pair is the least voted contestants. The pair on the far left of the stage contained Angie and Janelle. The pair in the center of the stage contained Lazaro and Amber. The final pair on the far right of the stage contained Kree and Candice.

Kelly Clarkson, the original winner of American Idol. I remember it like it was yesterday, back in 2002. Boy that was a long time ago (laugh out loud), I was 11 years of age on the day she won Idol. I’ve been a fan of hers since her season. I also remember her first single ‘Ms. Independent’, I loved that song. I’ve loved watching her grow as an Artist, from American Idol to “Justin to Kelly” to her many Albums and Grammy’s. Kelly rocks. I hope to see much more come from her career. Keep up the great work Kelly.

Just as I suspected, the top 2 contestants were Kree and Candice, meanwhile the bottom 2 contestants were Lazaro Arbos and Amber Holcomb, causing Angie and Janelle to be safe as well.

FINALLY, Lazaro was the least voted contestant of the week, and the save was not used on him... I liked Lazaro from the start, but his elimination was well over due. Somewhere along the line, as he got further along in the competition it seemed as if his confidence was shot, causing him to fall short practically week after week. And unfortunately, we saw some very talented contestants go before him, when they didn’t deserve to. I believe what attracted people to Lazaro the most was the fact that he had the courage to come on the show with his stuttering issue. He had a marvelous story to tell, he told it and he presented it to us very well. Lazaro was an inspiration to many people, and I’m sure he will continue to be for many years to come. I wish Lazaro nothing but the best. Good luck with your career Lazaro.

In spite of the many disappointments we’ve had this season, the five women that completed the Top 10 has remained on the show to the end. The top five females have dominated the remaining of the season and have kicked all of the male contestants to the curve. For the first time in Idol history, the Top 5 contains nothing but girls. So there you have it, the ‘Male Winning Streak’ of Idol has been broken, because a female is definitely taking home the title of American Idol: Season 12. *round of applause*

See you guys next week.  

-RON E.

The Elimination of Burnell Taylor

Jimmy hit everything on the nose with criticism tonight, although my Top 3 pick was slightly different. It was obvious that Angie stole the night with her whole performance, and in my opinion the fan during her performance worked to her advantage. It gave the edgy look and feel that Angie was going for, the fan may have been a little too powerful, but it worked in Angie’s favor. My second pick was Amber, she brought her angelic ballads with an edge to her performance last night, and it worked. My personal third choice was Candice. Candice performed slightly better than Kree in my opinion, which was the difference between Jimmy’s Top 3. I sometimes feel like Kree is overly praised.  Yes, she’s a great singer and performer, but not in comparison to some of the other contestants.

Once again, Lazaro has seemed to walk by being in the Top Contestants of the week, when he should’ve been in the bottom. Candice or Amber should’ve completed the Top 3 contestants of the week. In spite of the votes not really going the way it should have, we’re seeing one the best performers of the week go into the bottom 3 tonight. 

The bottom 3 resulted into Amber Holcomb, Janelle Arthur, and Burnell Taylor. 

With Amber and Janelle being sent to safety, Burnell ended up being the least voted contestant. I was hoping he would’ve gotten the save, but he didn’t get the save unfortunately. Burnell deserved to stay in the competition further, but the judges obviously didn’t think so. The judges decided to use the save for someone else further along the line. As tragic as this is elimination was, we all have to deal with the fact that Burnell had to go. SAD! I wish Burnell nothing but success with his future and his career. I hope to see him a bit more on tv in the future, which I'm sure we will. Good luck Burnell!

Next week it is you guys.

-RON E.