Idol Chatter & Voice Views

When the biggest complaint about an American Idol episode is a bad song choice by one contestant — I’m going to resist any dumb blonde jokes — you’ve just witnessed a pretty good night of music.

A Top 5 made up of all ladies delivered 10 performances ranging from good to very good to better to superlative Wednesday night.

Amber Holcomb performs Wednesday night on American Idol. (FOX Photo)

It was, without doubt, the best combined effort of Season 12.

The conclusion when the evening ending?

Little had changed.

Kree Harrison, Candice Glover and Angie Miller still look like the clear front-runners.

Janelle Arthur and Amber Holcomb still look like the next two contestants likely to head home.

Of course, I’m still betting Amber gets saved if she lands at the bottom of the vote totals.

The judges seemed obsessed with her, to borrow a favorite Nicki Minaj phrase. Overly obsessed, in my opinion.

What do we have to look forward to tonight other than results?

Well, Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken and Season 3 winner Fantasia will return to the Idol stage.

Fantasia will sing her latest single: “Lose to Win.” And when Fantasia hits the Idol stage, the result is usually .. shall we say flamboyant … perhaps like a singer obsessed.

Her new album — “Side Effects of You” — hits stores Tuesday. Head to Fantasia’s website for pre-order links.

And, hey, we might find out what Jimmy Iovine thought about those diva performances.

Angie Miller with the male background dancers brought on to help with the American Idol group number.

Idol allowed Jimmy to offer feedback on the first round of songs Wednesday night. I loved it, since post-vote feedback has always seemed pretty useless to me.

Then he disappeared. As though we wouldn’t notice. Silly, Idol.

Anyway, I’m anxious to hear how he compared Angie, Candice and Amber, all of whom turned in solid second-half performances.

I gave the edge to Angie. I was actually a little fearful for her when she announced she’d be singing Beyonce’s “Halo.” Nothing to fear. She turned in one of her most dynamic vocals yet. For last night’s song by song grades, head here.

And here we go. One of the first things I spied was a “Simmer Down, Sir” sign in the studio audience.

We start off with a group number. Judging from her Facebook, it sounded like Angie was surprised, and quite pleased, to learn the Idol ladies would get male background dancers this week. “So cool!” she wrote.

Here come results …

Angie Miller: Jimmy seemed to like Angie’s first performance better than her second, saying “Halo” lacked believability. What? Nicki says Jimmy doesn’t know what he’s talking about, that “Halo” was a 10 of 10. I’m with Nicki on this one.

Candice Glover: Jimmy says he was nervous for Candice after she performed “Straight Up.” But he loved her second song of the night. And look at this, Idol brings Paula Abdul back to congratulate Candice on her performance of “Straight Up.” Nice touch.

And now it’s time for Clay Aiken to return to Idol. And he’ll perform “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Very nice performance. Again, I love the way Idol is bringing back so many former contestants this season. They should have been doing it for years.

Kree Harrison picks the wrong songs Wednesday, according to Jimmy Iovine. (FOX Photo)

Back to results … oops, not results, but Jimmy talk.

Janelle Arthur: Jimmy calls Janelle’s first performance “sleepy” and her second performance a “strikeout.” But, hey, Janelle gets a personal message from Dolly Parton.

Amber Holcomb: Here comes more Amber pimping. Told you. Jimmy thought she was fantastic, though she wasn’t. Mariah believes she belongs above the top two. What?

Kree Harrison: And Jimmy thinks Kree picked the wrong songs. Huh? look, her second-round song choice wasn’t brilliant. But Amber covered a Mariah song she couldn’t sing in round one. And she gets a pass? Come on, Idol.

Wow, Idol also provides us with an update on La Toya London from Season 3.

And now it’s time for Fantasia’s new single, which is really very good. And Fantasia looks very classy tonight, considering some of the outfits she’s worn on the Idol stage. And she just slayed that song. Proving once again she has one of the best, most distinctive voices to ever grace the Idol stage.

So Ryan promises we’ll find out where everyone stands.

* Candice Glover is safe and advances.

* Angie Miller is safe and advances.

* Amber Holcomb is safe and advances.

That leaves Kree and Janelle in the bottom two tonight.

* Kree advances;

* Janelle must sing for a save.

Janelle picks her best Idol performance to reprise, singing “You Keep Me Hanging On.” And you knew Janelle would deliver a great vocal with her Idol fate on the line.

And the judges won’t save Janelle Arthur.