Top 5, Two Themes - 4/17/13

Hi there. Tonight starts what Ryan Seacrest and others have said about only girls being in the top five in idol history. After welcoming the judges, Ryan and the top 5, Ryan says how American Idol sends their support for the awful event that happened in Boston. My goodness, life is so scary when you can not even attend a marathon without someone getting maimed or killed. My heart goes out to all the victims and their families.

Seems our girls will be doing two themes tonight; First is the year they were born and secondly their favorite diva. Quickly we get to the songs, here goes:

Candice Glover continues to be my numero uno as far as this show goes. Her birth year is November 22, 1989 and she opts to give us a bossa nova jazz take on Paula Abdul's "Straight Up". She definitely made this her own and I liked the fact that she showed some personality as she sang. Keith Urban thought it was a great version of the song. Nicki Minaj claims Candice showed she was the boss. Randy applauded the arrangement and liked that Candice seemed to be having fun. Mariah says it was a smart song choice, genius and amazing. My grade: A+

While I was not wild about the song choice, Candice did deliver on "When You Believe" recorded by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston as a duet. It seemed so natural and pretty to my ears. Keith feels she pretty much pulled out all the stops. Rambling Nicki after so much chat ended with she loved it. Randy says it was the best vocal of the night. Mariah feels Candice did justice to the song and you could tell it was a teary moment for Mariah. My grade: A

I have a feeling that Janelle Arthur may be in trouble this week. Her birth year is December 12, 1989 and she is singing the song "When I Call Your Name" originally by Vince Gill. She is playing guitar however her beginning was kind of rough and here and there I did hear a few off-notes. The chorus was better. Keith actually did not feel the emotion that Vince did when he sang this song. Nicki calls it pretty and angelic and Randy sort of agrees by calling it beautiful. Mariah says she believed Janelle was singing with her whole heart. Frankly I do not think this vocal was strong enough as mentioned by Jimmy Iovine. My grade: C

Janelle wants to sing Dolly Parton by why on earth would she pick the song "Dumb Blonde". Dolly had so many other wonderful hits that I definitely think Janelle put the nail in the coffin with this one. She seemed to be doing more performing on stage than focusing on the lyrics although parts of it sounded good. Keith concurred that this was not the right song choice. Nicki flat out tells Janelle that she might be in jeopardy this week with this pick. Randy did not feel the vocal was good even though Janelle was having fun. Mariah basically just called it cute. My grade: C

Kree Harrison who was born May 17, 1990 opts to sing The Black Crowes song "She Talks To Angels". She does sing good but overall I am constantly bored with her. She has been called "the mother hen" by her peers but I wish she would show some emotion in her performances. Keith and Mariah both agree that Kree can sing anything. Nicki calls this the best performance of the night (wrong Nicki). Randy loves Kree's natural and bluesy voice. My grade: B

Again I am not impressed as Kree sings "Have You Ever Been In Love" by Celine Dion. Such a blah start even though the chorus got better. I was flabbergasted the judges gave her a standing ovation. Keith liked the song choice and her effortless control. Nicki feels she is more iconic than just a country singer. Randy agrees that she is versatile. Mariah is the only one that notices she has some problems with the key changes but does call this a smart choice. My grade: B-

I probably should not say this but I think Angie Miller is kind of calculating. Her song is "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders. Angie's birth year is February 17, 1994 and just before she performs she dedicates the song to her hometown of Boston due to their crisis there. She is playing the piano but I am not feeling any connection to the lyrics as she tries to sound powerful. Again with a standing ovation even though I honestly think Angie did this type of performance to earn votes. Keith thinks her voice is beautiful. Nicki calls it a smart choice. Randy agrees and calls it a great vocal. Mariah likes it but does feel Angie needs more edge when she sings. My grade: B-

Angie opts to sing Beyoncé's "Halo" as her diva number. I could hear some pitch notes in the beginning even though some of the rest of her song sounded pretty. She does have a powerful ending but I did not think this warranted the judges giving her a standing ovation. Keith actually thinks she topped Kree with this performance. Nicki feels she did justice to the song. Randy uses his usual pitch "in it to win it". Mariah felt it was a difficult song to perform and feels Angie had a wonderful clarity to her voice. Frankly I just do not get it folks. My grade: B-

I have liked Amber in the past but I feel she might have done herself some damage with her picks tonight. Her birth year song is "Without You" which was covered by Mariah Carey. Amber is judging this by being born on March 17, 1994. The song is a good one which was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger fame although Mariah thanks Harry Nilsson for the song. My problem with Amber singing it was she seemed so dis-jointed with the actual lyrics of the song. I also did not care for the sharp notes I heard here and there. Again a standing ovation (have the judges suddenly gotten springs in their butts I wonder). Keith feels that Amber has grown by leaps and bounds and this was so beautiful. Nicki being the only hold-out of the standing ovation got no feeling from the performance and does mention the problem with the lower register. For once Nicki got it right in my opinion. Randy says it wasn't perfect however gives her mad props for attempting this song. Mariah loves Amber's upper register. My grade: C

Amber chooses the song "What Are You Doing For The Rest of Your Life" as recorded by Barbra Streisand. It was overall a nice vocal but definitely not a wow moment for me personally. Her goes the standing ovation once again. Keith calls it elegant and beautiful (his new word I guess). Nicki calls it perfection. Randy loves Amber's giant voice with this difficult song choice. Mariah feels it was classic and beautiful. My grade: B

I honestly think both Janelle and Amber might be in jeopardy on the results show. Except for Candice none of the other girls were that terrific in my book. Seems I read somewhere that the "save card" is still in effect so maybe the judges will be using it. My pick to go is Janelle.

Guest performers will be Clay Aiken and Fantasia. Looking forward to seeing Clay again. I will now wrap this up and I do appreciate any thoughts you have.

I have to agree with you Crystal. I believe Janelle will be sent packing unless the judges use that save card. Which should have been used a long time ago on Devin, in my opinion.

I still think Kree and Candace are the best bet for the finale. Although Angie and Amber, I feel, are strong contenders. Just my opinion of course.