Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Well, it’s pretty clear who American Idol wants in the Season 12 finale.

That would be Candice Glover and Angie Miller.

Here’s the thing: They belong there.

Candice Glover performs “Somewhere” on American Idol Wednesday night. (FOX Photo)

I could complain a bit about the Candice love at the end of the show.

At this stage of the competition, I feel like it’s the judges’ job to critique the performances and let the viewers decide who deserves the votes.

Not to tell us we should go to the doctor if we don’t want to vote for a particular contestant. (Yes, I’m looking at you Keith Urban.)

And between Randy Jackson proclaiming that Candice’s version of “Somewhere” was one of the greatest ever on Idol, and Jimmy Iovine being brought on stage to proclaim that it “won the night” for the gal from St. Helena Island … well, it felt like the show was set up to propel Candice into the finals.

But complaining too much about that would be quibbling.

Because, you know what? She belongs there.

She’s might not be the American Idol, but she’s the best singer on Season 12. And the best singer belongs in the finals.

Angie Miller sings “Try” Wednesday night on American Idol (FOX Photo)

Here’s the other thing Wednesday’s show proved: Angie Miller belongs there, too.

And Keith might want to make an appointment with a doctor for me, but the performance I enjoyed most on Top 3 night was Angie’s rendition of “Try.”

Pink is not an easy singer to cover. “Try” is a great song. It would have been oh, so easy for that performance to fall flat, well short of the mark.

And, gotta tell you, Idol producers — the young viewers you crave so much are going to know that song much better than “Somewhere.”

Angie delivered vocally. She delivered performance-wise, without her piano. She pranced the stage like she owned it.

If there’s a performance I’d watch again because I enjoyed it so much the first time around, it would be that one.

It’s also the performance that demonstrates the distinction between Angie and Kree Harrison.

Both are talented singers. Angie’s the one with a flair for performance.

Kree took the stage in round three with an up-tempo song of her own, The Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two.”

And I disagree with the judges. I thought it was a fine song choice for the country singer. A chance for her to cut loose on stage.

Except Kree didn’t cut loose. She turned in a fine vocal and a rather lackluster performance. Certainly not what we would have gotten from Kimberly Perry.

So in the end, I graded Angie’s performance the best of the night on Idol.

And awarded two of the three rounds, including the last one, to Candice.

Now I’m just hoping they go head to head next week in the Idol finale.

It could be one of the classic showdowns in Idol history.

Right alongside David Cook vs. David Archuleta in Season 7.

Bo Bice versus Carrie Underwood in Season 4.

And Clay vs. Ruben in Season 2.