American Idol 12 - Top 2 Perform - Live Blog and Recap – 5/15/2013
Welcome to the live blog and recap for the Top 2 Performance Show of American Idol Season 12!
Tonight, Candice Glover and Kree Harrison tackle three songs apiece in their final showdown: one selected by Simon Fuller, a reprisal of one of their favorite earlier performances in the competition, and the winner's coronation song. You can check out the song spoilers here, if you're curious.
Because of a snafu with last week's live blog, we're doing it classic style tonight. All updates will take place in the body of this post. I'll hit up the comments and let you know when to refresh for the latest update.
Credit: FOX
Enjoy the show, and hit up the comments section to share your thoughts!
8:00 PM ET
-We kick things off with a video package detailing the journeys of the two contestants. This includes footage of Kree on The Rosie O'Donnell Show as a little girl, and Candice auditioning for Idol on three separate occasions. Both girls talk about how this will change their life, and how it's either "win or go home."
-Ryan hypes this as "Country vs. Soul," "The Lone Star State vs. The Palmetto State," "Kreedom vs. Candi Girl". He then introduces the top 2, who enter the packed Nokia. Both girls look amazing, with Kree wearing a flowing white dress and Candice rocking a red-and-black outfit. I swear, if I don't bust out of a coma at some point over the course of the next hour, it's because I just wasn't ready for how stunning Kree looks tonight. I am but one man.
Kree can't believe she's here, and asks Candice what's going on, in disbelief. The hashtags are #TeamKree and #TeamCandice. The crowd seems fairly split.
-Ryan explains that round one will be Simon Fuller's choice, followed by the winner's coronation single, and then the reprise/favorite performance of the season. Kree won the coin toss and has elected to go first.
KREE HARRISON kicks off the show!
-Kree sings Simon Fuller's choice, "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. I thought this was one of the straight-up prettiest vocals Kree has delivered this season, but it's hardly the "moment" she needed to have (even though I liked the slow, country style arrangement). In the event that America hasn't already made up its mind, Kree is going to have to really deliver on the next two vocals. I'm fairly certain she'll slay her reprisal, which leaves us with the question of her winner's single. That said, this was a solid, if unspectacular, way to kick off the final performance show of season 12.
No judges' comments. I have absolutely no problem with this.
8:13 PM
-Back from break and we waste no time keeping the show moving...
CANDICE GLOVER is up next!
-Candice sings "Chasing Pavements" by Adele, and I'm just thankful that it's something from 19, for once, and not 21. That said, I'd prefer if a moratorium were placed on Adele songs going forward, as far as reality singing competitions are concerned. Of course, I say this, yet Candice absolutely killed the vocal. Just terrific stuff. Ryan gives out Candice's four phone numbers (both contestants will have four numbers, and viewers will have four hours to vote).
-Ryan throws to the judges for Round One critiques:
Mariah talks about the amazing talent this season, and how proud she is of this final two.
-Randy felt that both of Simon Fuller's songs were kind of sleepy, though he gave the round to Candice because he felt she did more with her song than Kree. We also get a bit in which Ryan says that Randy is only riffing on Simon Fuller because he's leaving the show, which Randy has a good laugh over. I'm sure Randy is a swell chap, but the door can't hit his ass hard enough on the way out.
8:21 PM
-Back from break, and Ryan asks the girls how they prepared for tonight's finale. Kree says she just tries to live in the moment, while Candice says she takes it one song at a time.
-We then throw to the Coca-Cola Perfect Harmony performance...
Carly Rae Jepsen performs "Take A Picture"
-Maybe it's just the acoustics of the arena, but the audience couldn't possibly be any quieter for this. Carly looks uncharacteristically hot here (she's always been more of a quirky-cute). I don't remember which lyric I voted for in this song, although I'm sure the songwriting world didn't exactly miss out on a gem if my pick didn't get in.
-The performance is kind of weird, in that I genuinely can't tell if she's lip-syncing or not (I'm always a terrible judge of this sort of thing). Not to be a total hipster about this, but I enjoyed her far more during her run on Canadian Idol. Mostly because I like her covers far more than any of her originals. Then again, she's a vastly different artist in the mainstream than I would have thought she'd be from her time on the show. The performance wasn't bad or anything, nor is the song. It's a harmless bit of pop confectioner's sugar.
-Ryan announces that Coca-Cola is giving away 20,000 free downloads of the song, and that you can find out more at AmericanIdol.com. He then talks about Carly Rae's Canadian Idol past, and she mentions getting nervous hearing the Idol theme backstage. Okay, that was kind of adorable.
8:30 PM
-Back from break with Aubrey Cleland in the audience! Man, she really is lovely.
-Ryan then throws to Kree Harrison, who will be performing "All Cried Out", her potential winner's single.
KREE HARRISON is up next!
-Ryan didn't say anything about whether Kree had a hand in writing the song or not (as rumors had persisted that the contestants might have co-written their coronation single). The song isn't really in my wheelhouse, but I loved this for two reasons: 1) Kree sang the hell out of it. Just an absolutely resplendent vocal, with high notes that don't strain, and verses that are beautifully in-the-pocket. 2) It sounds like a winner's song, the kind of ballad performed against a background of pyrotechnics and confetti shower.
-The judges (except Nicki) give Kree a standing O.
8:36 PM
-Back from break with the Glover family in the front row, and Ryan announcing that, for the first time in Idol history, the winner's album will be available for pre-order after the show tomorrow. He then introduces Candice, who will be performing her potential winner's single, "I Am Beautiful."
CANDICE GLOVER is up next!
-I don't know that a corny song has moved me this much in recent years, but this is tremendously effective. And Candice slays the hell out of it. Everything about this song says "Winner," but then, you can't go picking who's going to win based on how "winner-y" their coronation single sounds. Otherwise, Lauren Alaina would have won season 10.
-All four judges give Candice a standing O (even Nicki, who stayed in her seat for Kree. Make of that what you will).
-Ryan throws to Keith and Nicki for their thoughts:
-Nicki says she loved Kree's composure and how understated she is, feeling that her song made her reach down into her gut more than she ever has before, and that was a new side to her. Keith said it's not so much "Country vs. Soul" but "Soul vs. Soul," saying that these two songs were tailor-made for their contestants.
-Nicki states she loved Candice's song, and felt that the lyrics fit her perfectly. Keith adds that the song "fit her like a Glover." Oh, Keith. I'll miss your terrible puns most of all.
8:44 PM
-Back from break, and Ryan asks Nicki and Keith who won round 2. Unsurprisingly, Nicki says Candice, and Keith says Kree. Ryan reminds Nicki that Randy gave round one to Candice as well, as if to chide her for going off-script ("You were supposed to say Kree! GOD, NICKI, WHY ARE YOU BEING SO DIFFICULT?!").
KREE HARRISON is up next!
-Kree reprises her Vegas round song, "Up to the Mountain". It's my favorite vocal from Kree this season. She also threw on a red dress just to make sure I need an inhaler to keep me alive for the remaining fifteen minutes of this show. Is it just me, or would this make a MUCH better winner's single/coronation song than the one she was given? It's just so gorgeous, with the full chorus and the sweeping arrangement. Loved it. All four judges give her a standing O.
-Keith thought it was beautiful.
-Nicki liked it way more than her single performance, between the chorus and the whole nine yards. She says it was a rich vocal.
-Randy thought it was her best performance of the night.
-Mariah thought all of Kree's performances tonight have been strong.
8:52 PM
-Back from break with the final performance of the evening...
CANDICE GLOVER closes the show!
-She sings "I Who Have Nothing", and does the entire first verse acapella. And honestly, she probably could have done the entire song this way, and it would have been the best thing this season. I love when the reprisals are different and distinguishable, in their own right, from the first time the contestant performed them. Not that Kree didn't deliver a unique interpretation of "Up to the Mountain," but this is something else entirely. All four judges rush to their feet as the song ends, and I'm getting the feeling that Candice Glover may have just won the twelfth season of American Idol with that vocal. Of course, finale performances don't always mean much in the grand scheme of things. For me, Candice and Kree are still neck-and-neck, though I'm still #TeamKree no matter what.
-Keith thought it was incredible, and points out Candice's mother crying in the audience.
-Nicki calls out Candice's legs, which we're seeing for the first time on American Idol. Nicki loves that Candice completely owned that song and that performance.
-Randy said this is one of the greatest singing competitions, and says that this was a winning performance.
-Mariah says it doesn't matter if we'd heard Candice sing this song every single week of the competition, since it's all about her undeniable talent, which has surpassed what they ever could have expected when this season started. Mariah is confident she'll be listening to Candice for years to come.
-We get the final recaps, and I'm guessing Phillip Phillips' medical problems prevented him from appearing to perform "Gone, Gone, Gone," as the singer of the season's goodbye song usually performs it at the end of the final performance show of the season.
-Is it just me, or did Ryan say "The legs will no be open for four hours, so vote!" I fear what the break-up with Julianne Hough and the desertion of the entire judging panel has done to the man.
-And that's that! Though Candice absolutely slayed the final performance, I actually preferred Kree overall. I think Kree is going to win this thing, even though the wind seems to be blowing in the opposite direction.
What do you think? Who is the winner of American Idol Season 12?
Keep it locked here, as I'll be adding videos as soon as they become available! See you tomorrow for the two-hour season finale! Thanks for hanging out!