American Idol 12 - Trey & Nick's Week in Review - Top 7

At the risk of turning this into the weekly Lazaro Arbos portion of the column, we've put his performance with Angie Miller here. It wasn't actually terrible, and while watching it at first, it wasn't all that bad. But watching back the performances, it was very corny and a vocal mess. And it's hardly just Lazaro's fault, since it was an uninspired, meandering vocal for Angie too. They just both looked so bored. Thankfully, their solo performances picked up the slack, but not enough to erase the memory of this snoozer.

Whose chances of going further have improved?

Lazaro Arbos. Granted, his chances haven't gotten that much better, but they have gotten better. Between Jimmy's constant ragging, predicting that he'll go home, to the fact that he's the last guy standing in the competition (meaning he'll get the frau vote by default), everything's comin' up Lazaro, it seems. I mean we had a feeling he'd end up staying, but that Top 3 this week? Whew. Much worse than we thought.

Whose chances have decreased?

Candice Glover. Though, like with Lazaro, not by much. She wasn't in Jimmy's/the Judges' top 3 (except for Mariah's, and we get the sense she'd have included all seven remaining finalists in her list if she could have), and she's fallen out of America's top 3, which makes me think America might be over the pimping. Either that, or it's simply a case of there not being enough room to accommodate all of the judges' effusive praise. But even then, you'd think she'd make it in over Amber, who's already made an appearance in the bottom 3, while Candice has steered clear of the bottom altogether. Again, it's not like she's going to go home next week or anything, but she no longer feels like a lock for the finale, or even final 3, really.

Most disappointing performance of the week?

On paper, a trio of Kree Harrison, Amber Holcomb and Janelle Arthur probably seemed like a good idea. But the combination of Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", and the lack of any real group chemistry whatsoever led to this being one of the most disappointing performances in weeks. This just fell apart out there towards the end, and we're not sure if it was somebody forgetting their lyrics, or if the microphones dropped out or what, but this was a mess that was salvaged only by the fact that it was completely forgettable. Maybe this trio would have done really well on Motown week?

Just how far is Lazaro going to go?

At this point, we're not sure. As Ellie Goulding Fifth Harmony said, Anything Could Happen. We had imagined he was slowly becoming a Sanjaya Malakar/Tim Urban-esque figure: the guy who the judges feel has overstayed his welcome, but who keeps escaping elimination by the narrowest of margins. But it's very hard to believe that Sanjaya or Tim were ever actually in America's top 3, much less at a point this deep into the competition. As a point of reference, both Tim Urban and Sanjaya Malakar went home at top 7; however, they both survived a greater number of public votes than Lazaro has so far: Top 24, Top 20, Top 16, Top 12-8, while Lazaro has only made it through Top 40, Top 20, Top 10, 9, 8 and 7. He needs to last two more weeks to tie their longevity. So make of that what you will, but as it stands right now, Lazaro is coming across as an actual threat to the prospect of an all-girl final four.

He stands to inherit a lot of votes simply by virtue of being the last remaining guy, while Jimmy and the Judges are only mobilizing his fanbase with their antipathy towards him (a total Haley Reinhart situation, except many would argue that Lazaro more than deserves the critiques he's been getting, whereas Haley caught hell week-in and week-out, despite giving some of the better performances of a given night). Ultimately, we don't think Lazaro is going to make the finale, or even top 3. But it seems a good shot that he could easily make the final four, especially if he's in America's top 3 at this point in the competition -- unless, of course, last night's results were simply a freak occurrence, and he winds up back in the bottom 3 next week. It's becoming increasingly difficult to tell, one way or the other.

Which contestant will Burnell fans support now that their favorite has been eliminated?

Not Lazaro Arbos, we'd think. Even though Lazaro isn't in the bottom 3, there's a weird double standard when a deserving contestant goes home, whereby it's always the fault of the Elimination Houdini of the season. But that's just part of the territory that goes with being the Elimination Houdini. When you're Tim Urban, it's your fault Alex Lambert didn't make the top 12. When you're Jason Castro or Brooke White, everybody gets on your ass when Carly Smithson or Michael Johns is eliminated. It's not fair, but it's just how the tide of public opinion tends to sway. So Burnell supporters are probably not going to go for Lazaro. Or for Kree, Angie or Janelle, meaning that the votes have the potential to split in such a way that both Amber (Burnell's crush) and Candice (Burnell's big sister) will benefit. But, once again, it's not a science. Burnell fans could also be into country, meaning Janelle benefits. It's hard to tell. But we're getting to that point in the competition where picking up votes for an eliminated contestant's fanbase could mean the difference between a hometown visit, and bottoming out at top 5. For all we know, Lazaro made top 3 because Spanish voters lost Devin, and needed a new Latino to back. Whether that actually bears out or not, it's fun to speculate.

Has the "Save Me" performance become meaningless?

Nick says he goes back and forth on whether the Save Me performance actually matters to the judges' deliberation. In some cases, it seems like it turns their opinion around, like with Michael Lynche. Other times, the judges seem to have made up their mind before a single note is ever sung (like with Casey Abrams or Jessica Sanchez, to cite positive examples). Yet the last two weeks, Randy and Keith didn't really seem to be engaging with the performance at all (or deliberating very much, for that matter). And while you could say that this is because they've already made up their minds, and that they're only going to use it to save a girl, the fact of the matter is that they should at least give the appearance of deliberation. We all knew Simon and co. weren't going to save Alexis Grace, but they at least made the effort of giving her a fair deliberation.

If your mind is made up, just throw to commercials after the bottom vote-getter is announced, and then give your decision after the break. Because Michael Lynche is the only example I can think of where a vocal on a Save Me song likely changed the judges' minds (we leave out Matt Giraud because Simon has gone on record as saying that he was going to save him anyway, since he didn't expect any egregious eliminations to happen the following week, and he wanted to use it before the season was out). That said, the Save Me song makes for decent drama when a contestant is on the border, and you're not sure if they're going to use the save or not. But those cases are so few and far between that it's mostly a pointless exercise -- a way to pad out an already over-padded results show. We'll tell you right now, if one of the anointed girls is eliminated next week, she won't get two notes out before the judges cut off the music to save her. Because, ultimately, the performance just doesn't matter all that much.

Song suggestions for Burt Bacharach-Hal David Songbook:

We're excluding the second theme, "Songs You Wish You'd Written", since we can't really give suggestions about what the contestants should wish they'd written, as we can't read minds...yet:

Angie: "Close to You" by The Carpenters would be lovely, particularly if she parked herself at the piano and actually stayed there. She would also do a terrific job with Dionne Warwick's "Don't Make Me Over."

Kree: She could really nail "The Look of Love" by Dusty Springfield or "Anyone Who Had A Heart" by Dionne Warwick, but we kind of hope she does something more bluesy, like "Walk On By". She could have an awesome moment.

Candice: "A House Is Not A Home." We all know it's coming, right? We need to just brace ourselves for it.

Amber: Unless, of course, it goes to Amber. In which case, expect standing ovations and Mariah breaking down into tears. Either way, the situation of Candice and Amber entering the Thunder Dome to fight for this song is plausible.

Lazaro: Nick's immediate inclination is to suggest he go full-on cheeseball and just do "What's New Pussycat?" Just really troll the audience. But neither of us think Lazaro is in the business of rubbing it in, so he should just pick a song that plays right to his strengths: "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross. Granted, this song led to the elimination of another Latino heartthrob in season one, the last time they did Bacharach music, so maybe it's not such a wise idea. Either way, Nick just wanted to make it two weeks in a row that he's mentioned RJ Helton.

Janelle: Provided Kree doesn't cover it, she should do a countrified take on "Walk On By" from Dionne Warwick, but there are plenty of Bacharach-David songs that already have a country/folk influence. One of those songs might suit her better, such as "The Story of My Life" by Marty Robbins or "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" by BJ Thomas. That said, Janelle is the rare contestant this season where we recommend she stay away from uptempo songs. She doesn't do a bad job with them, but they often come across as completely forgettable, and they rarely afford her the opportunity to show off much of her voice. So, with that in mind, another is "One Less Bell to Answer" by The 5th Dimension, which could be perfect for her voice.

As long as no one does "Say A Little Prayer" or "What the World Needs Now", we'll be good. Seriously, guys, leave that 'ish on the table.