Here’s what critics around the interwebs are saying about last night’s American Idol 12 Top 4 performance show. Read my recap here.
American Idol Recap: The Trouble With Girls – Okay. Tonight’s American Idol was the most manipulative of the season, and not just because the top four paid bedside visits to terminally ill children in the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. No, tonight the judges went all in for one particular contestant, even though she almost certainly didn’t do the best job. And here’s the deal: I absolutely agree with the judges. An Amber Holcomb victory is this show’s only hope for continued relevance. – Read more at Vulture
‘American Idol’ Judges Get Giddy as Final Four Face Off: 15 Things You Didn’t See on TV – One thing you can always say about American Idol — despite any behind-the-scenes drama, the judges and ever reliable host Ryan Seacrest always show up with their game face on and professionalism in check. Certainly that was the case for Wednesday’s top 4 show, when finalists Kree Harrison, Amber Holcomb, Candice Glover and Angie Miller hit the stage for two solo numbers and one duet. – Read more at Hollywood Reporter
American Idol Top 4 Performance Night Recap: I Don’t Think That I Can Take It [Updated] – Welcome to Miss American Idol, an exciting new reality series from Fox where gorgeous, talented women take the stage and sing for your votes — and then the ones with the skinniest legs advance to the finale. Wait, that’s not an actual show? Then please someone tell me what I spent two hours watching tonight as a white-hot rage percolated through my circulatory system and turned me into the kind of cussing, fork-throwing (yes, I may have slammed cutlery into the hard wood floor), definitely-not-enjoying-myself monster you’d typically see on a show like Bad Girls Club or The Real Housewives of the Ninth Circle. – Read more at TV Line
‘American Idol’ recap: I Want You to Stay – Short version of my Top 4 performance night recap: The judges let out a huuuuuuge group fart and then walked away. Except for Mariah, who remained seated. Dahling. Long version: The judges claimed Angie Miller won the night, criticized Candice Glover for being old-fashioned, and demanded more from Kree Harrison — beautiful vocals are not enough. Meanwhile, Amber Holcomb is the girl Nicki Minaj would most like to be friends with, even though she called her “Angie” within seconds of announcing this. You know — just in case you were on the edge of your seat wondering whom to vote for in this singing competition. – Read more at Entertainment Weekly
‘American Idol’ Recap: Judges Crack Down on Kree Harrison – In the final stretches, American Idol is clearly putting pressure on the judges to crack down on coddled contestants who have a consistent track record of do-no-wrong performances. It’s not enough to have a good voice; you gotta have star quality, too. With that Idol mantra in mind, the panel collectively knocked Kree “Kreedom” Harrison off her throne along with Candice Glover, another frontrunner. While Kree and Candice were on the receiving end of rare (and especially harsh) criticism that left the former on the verge of tears, Angie Miller and Amber Holcomb won mostly positive acclaim for middling and overrated covers of songs that were A) dated B) sappy C) really, really, really lame or D) all of the above. Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
“American Idol” Recap: The Top Four Is Melting In The Dark – “Marketability” in the music landscape in 2013 is a funny thing, though. While there are a lot of great pop personalities out there right now, the way they were created seems fairly antithetical to the Idol method. Not that there isn’t behind-the-scenes grooming and schooling going on; obviously there is. But the main difference lies in the lack of a “rebel” factor; provocation of any sort is implicitly discouraged, with the singers all displaying basic reverence to the moldy oldies the producers force them to sing. Even with the judges indulging in a little meanness here and there, the possibility of an antihero emerging to go all the way is unlikely; the singers who are elevated are ones that somebody wants to root for, given that it takes a vote from the public for people to stay alive. – Read more at Popdust
‘American Idol’ Recap: Angie Miller Steals The Show And ‘Snatches Some Wigs’ – It was Angie Miller’s night on “American Idol” Wednesday, as the 18-year-old from outside of Boston stole the show from her fellow females in the top four. Miller dominated an evening that saw the “Idols” taking on three songs: A song of their choice, a one-hit wonder and a duet. “You came out tonight to snatch some wigs off some heads, honeychild,” Nicki Minaj told Miller, after her show-closing rendition of “Cry Me a River” (Julie London’s, not Justin Timberlake’s). “Tonight was your night.” – Read more at MTV
‘American Idol’: Four to go – The four remaining Idols will each sing two solo songs tonight, along with one duet. The contestants pick their own songs in the first round. The second theme will be announced later in the show — it’s the result of an AT&T contest where fans suggested themes. OK, I love Julie London’s Cry Me a River as much as the next person, but I’d much rather have heard Angie Miller sing Aerosmith’s version. I suppose that’s neither here nor there, except that Steven Tyler’s approach to the song was much more original than Miller’s torchy take, even if it wasn’t as pretty. Still, if you didn’t know before that Miller could hold her own against the show’s vocal powerhouses, you know it now. – USA Today
‘American Idol’ Top 4 Night: One-Hit Blunders – During the second hour of “American Idol” this Wednesday, the top four girls sang “One-Hit Wonders,” a theme voted for by fans. (I admit I may have voted for that theme a couple times. And by “a couple,” I mean, like, 67.) Excitedly I sat in front of the TV with my popcorn and boxed wine, ready for a delightful evening of Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping” (a great song choice for anyone who’s ever been in the bottom three), Buckner & Garcia’s “Pac-Man Fever,” Baltimora’s “Tarzan Boy,” Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair,” “One Night in Bangkok,” “Who Let the Dogs Out,” or, of course, the best one-hit wonder ever, White Town’s “Your Woman.” Yes, I should’ve known from my years of “Idol”-watching that the contestants would disappoint me and either pick the fuddy-duddiest songs imaginable, or just ignore the theme altogether. But still, I dared to dream. – Read more at Yahoo.com
‘American Idol’ Recap: The Final Four Battle – The final four battled it out tonight on ‘American Idol’ singing one song of their choice, one song based on a theme chosen by voters (one-hit wonders), and one duet. But the bigger battle was between Jimmy and the judges, who disagreed more as the show went on. We saw scenes from earlier in the week as the contestants visited the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, spreading some music to sick kids. – Read more at The Wall Street Jurnal
American Idol: The final four flounder – On Wednesday night, the final four American Idol contestants were allowed to sing a song of their choice – plus one song by an artist who was labeled a “One-Hit Wonder.” But earlier in the week the final four contestants all visited the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles to make some new friends. Playing soccer on the rooftop of a building with Ford Fusions to bonding with sick children is quite an evolution; it seems like Clay Aiken really did rub off on them after all! – Read more at CSMonitor
‘American Idol’ Recap: No Clear Front Runner With Only Four to Go – Many things set the 12th season of “American Idol” apart from its recent predecessors (namely, ALL DEM GIRLS), but one of the most noticeable changes has to do with the front runner. And by that, I mean that there really isn’t one. Last season, everyone pretty much knew Phillip Phillips was going to win. The year before, Scotty McCreery seemed to have it in the bag. Even before that, though Crystal Bowersox might have been the perceived favorite for awhile, there was always the growing notion in the back of one’s mind that Lee Dewyze had a formidable fanbase up his sleeve. – Read more at Billboard.com
‘American Idol’ Recap: Angie Miller Wins Judges’ Praise – “Don’t be boring” was the overarching theme of the night as top four on American Idol performed one-hit wonders, duets and a personal choice song. “You have to add personality on top of the voice or that’s where it’s going to end,” Nicki Minaj yelled at Kree Harrison after she fumbled on her duet with Amber Holcomb on Adele’s “Rumour Has It.” The judges didn’t hold back last night telling usual frontrunners Candice Glover and Kree that they needed to step up their song choices and throw in some drama if they wanted to make it to the finals. Both women chose songs they could handle with ease, but ended up sounding boring (Candice did a gospel-tinged version of Drake’s “Find Your Love,” while Kree chose Susan Tedeschi’s “It Hurt So Bad”). As Randy Jackson reminded Candice, “It can’t always sound like you’re in church.” – Read more at The Rolling Stone
