Here’s what critics around the interwebs are saying about last night’s American Idol 12 Top 5 performance show. Read my recap here.
American Idol Recap: All the Real Girls – You know, it’s a shame that American Idol bloats itself with too many songs, unseemly promotional segments, and lousy singers with overproduced sob stories, because every now and then it’s still capable of delivering a solid episode. And so it is tonight. At last we are down to the top five, the first all-female and possibly strongest one in the show’s history. But I feel like the young women of America — lacking the non-threatening, guitar-strumming potential boyfriend the show’s been churning out for the last few years — have defected to Elementary, Duck Dynasty, and Rachel Zoe’s Assistant Doesn’t Like What You’re Wearing or whatever. – Read more at Vulture
‘American Idol’ Takes on Divas and Birth Year Songs: 11 Things You Didn’t See on TV – 1. It’s a two-hour show, so after enjoying an iced latte in the Green Room, THR always makes a pit stop before entering the Idol dome. That can lead to the occasional celebrity sighting, as it did on this night. The guy washing his hands at the next sink over? None other than season 10 finalist James Durbin. But he wasn’t the only alum back at his alma mater. Later, former finalist Casey Abrams tweeted a photo of the two 2011 competitors on a “date with Idol.” – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
‘American Idol’ Recap: ‘Simmer Down, Sir!’ It’s Ladies Night – With the final five women remaining in the competition, American Idol went full-on diva with a nod to strong female icons for half its theme and what host Ryan Seacrest called “an Idol favorite” — songs from the year the singers were born — to round it out. Despite an energetic and enthusiastic audience response on Wednesday night’s performance show, Seacrest took a moment to address the nation’s grief after the Boston Marathon bombing. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
‘American Idol’ recap: Funky Divas – Tonight’s Idol did its best to downplay the undeniable reign of Candice Glover — she sang powerfully, but got the dreaded first slot. And the judges saved their fiercest standing O’s and April Showers of Praise for both of Kree Harrison’s songs as well as the second offerings of Angie Miller and Amber Holcomb. Janelle Arthur no longer exists. – Read more at Entertainment Weekly
American Idol Recap: Divas’ Advocates [Updated] – Yes, folks, this week on American Idol, Jimmy Iovine surrendered his “mentoring” role and pre-performance “advisory” sessions and instead put on his Justin Bieber Bigboy Collection (TM) cap to bark like a snake-oil salesman and rally a nation of speed-dialers behind Angie Miller and Amber Holcomb after their Round 1 “Songs From the Year They Were Born” numbers. – Read more at TV Line
‘American Idol’ Recap: Top Five Ladies Shine On Divas Night – The Diva battle royale commenced Wednesday night on “American Idol,” with the show’s first all-women top five slugging it out onstage for the chance to become the first female “Idol” champ since Jordin Sparks. At the end of the two-hour show, success was measured in standing ovations, and the competition proved to be as thick as it has been at any point this season. – Read more at MTV
‘American Idol’ Top 5 Night: Who You Calling a Diva? – Now with all those pesky boys out of the way, “American Idol” continued apace this week with the final five girls (the first all-female top five in “Idol” history), and so of course there was a “Divas” theme. But none of the girls really brought Mariah-style divaliciousness to the show, contrary to what the ridiculous amount of overpraise from the judges might have had viewers believe. (Seriously, these girls were getting more standing ovations than Joshua Ledet on a good night. I practically had flashbacks to the nicey-nice Steven Tyler/Jennifer Lopez “Idol” years.) However, during the episode–the first half of which featured a “Song From the Year You Were Born” theme, before moving on to diva songs in the second hour–there were a couple memorable moments that separated the women from the girls. – Yahoo.com
‘American Idol’ Recap: Ladies Tackle Divas, Songs From Birth Year – “American Idol” is getting down to the wire. All that remains are five ladies, each with the potential in theory to win the competition, given that their respective fanbases can mount enough of a charge. Each remaining contestant has her own style and own spot into which one imagines she’ll fit if she doe break into the music industry. Now, it’s simply a matter of who’s the most popular. – Read more at Billboard
‘American Idol’ Recap: Candice Glover Steals the Show Again – Last night on American Idol the producers made the most of the fact that they had managed to concoct an all-female top five. First they had the finalists engage in the old Idol standby of singing a song from the year they were born and if you ever wanted to feel old, watch a bunch of American Idol contestants wax on about being born in 1994. Then, to help the five singers fill two hours of primetime, the producers put the women to work singing from the diva songbook with tunes from Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, Barbara Streisand, Beyoncé and, yes, Mariah Carey herself. – Read more at Rolling Stone
There Will Be Ballads: American Idol 13 Top 5 Girls – Truth be told, blogging or even watching American Idol just seems even more pointless and soul-killing than usual this evening—and it has nothing to do with the oddly, glazed-over dead-eye faux-fierce stares of the Final 5 Females in their pre-credits closeup. Certainly the Final 5 Cylons had more going on in there than the bulk of this crew. (Candice Glover, I love you honey, no matter what.) But in all seriousness, some whack job just set off some homemade bombs down the street and its impossible not to sit here and reevaluate so many things that once seemed like a priority, or dominated any space in my head…yet I just want to turn my brain off. – Read more at Top Idol Blog
