Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Before I get down to grading performances from Kree Harrison and Candice Glover one last time, let’s take a quick look at how both got to the American Idol finals.

Candice was a favorite from the minute she auditioned in the Charlotte episode. Randy Jackson remembered her from the previous two years. To say she impressed the other judges with her version of “Sugar and Honey” would be an understatement.

Candice Glover and Kree Harrison, American Idol’s Season 12 finalists. (FOX Photo)

Nicki Minaj told Candice she wanted to “skin you and wear you” and that she felt unworthy to critique her vocals. Mariah Carey said she wished Candice had already released music so she could buy it as a fan.

For her part, Candice admitted to being disappointed to the point of tears when she was cut in Vegas in Season 11. But she said watching the success friends Jessica Sanchez and Deandre Brackensick enjoyed last year encouraged her to try again.

She spent the year in between trying to make herself “bulletproof” to the Idol process, she told her hometown newspaper, The Beaufort Gazette.

Clearly, she succeeded.

As for Kree, Idol viewers didn’t know who she was until Hollywood Week. The show didn’t air her Oklahoma City audition. Heading into the Hollywood round, if a female country singer was going to stand out in Season 12, you had to figure it would be Janelle Arthur. Or maybe Rachel Hale. Or perhaps Brandy Neelly.

When Kree finally appeared on screen, it was as part of the drama-filled Dolly Chicks quartet on group night in Hollywood. Kree seemed to shy away from the camera while team members Britnee Kellogg and Brandy fretted because Haley Davis went to bed rather than rehearse “Sin Wagon” all night.

Kree Harrison and Candice Glover at an American Idol interview session earlier this week. (FOX Photo)

Everyone but Brandy survived that performance, and we found out how good Kree was the next night when she delivered one of the absolute best final solos in Hollywood, singing “Stars.” By the time the finals rolled around, she was no longer an unknown. In fact, Vegas odds-makers had her as the second most likely contestant to make the finals, behind only Angie Miller. Candice wasn’t in the top six.

Though she’s from Woodville, Texas, Kree had been living in Nashville for some time before Idol, working as a demo singer. In her Road to Hollywood video, she talked about getting and losing a record deal and said she felt like she had paid her dues. She credited her sister with convincing her to try out for the show.

Simon Fuller’s Choices

Kree Harrison: She won the coin flip and decides to go first. She’ll sing “Angel.” And it’ll be a stripped down version of the song, which suits Kree very well. Nice start to the night for the gal from Texas, though I’ve gotta say, you can hear the weeks of strain on her voice, especially when she tried to hit the high notes. And the song choice was just a wee bit sleepy. Grade: B

Candice Glover: She’s handed “Chasing Pavements” by Adele. Don’t like the opening very much at all. Well, I really wasn’t into Candice’s performance for the first minute, but she started unleashing a little of what Nicki would call Kree-dom on the final portion of the song and wound up delivering a pretty nice performance. That said, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t close to Candice’s best performance. She made the song her own, but I wasn’t thrilled with the changes. Grade: B–

Randy awards the first round to Candice, but didn’t like either of the song choices.

The first singles

Interesting that they’ve changed this up to put the first singles in the middle of the show. Normally they’re saved for the final performance of tonight.

I just hope this year is more even than last, when Phillip Phillips was served up a future mega-hit and Jessica Sanchez was handed a “Change Nothing” tune no one wanted to hear a second time.

Kree Harrison

Kree Harrison: Her single is called “All Cried Out.” Another ballad of course. But it has a decent chorus. All in all, by Idol coronation song standards, that song isn’t half bad. It beats “Love You This Big” and “Like My Mother Does” from my standpoint. Once again, Kree’s voice seems to be straining when she performs. Kree needs moments to pull this thing out, and two songs in she has yet to deliver one. Grade: B

Candice Glover

Candice Glover: Her song is called “I am Beautiful.” Oh, my. She’s got an entire string section behind her to drive this thing home. Afraid the concept was better than the song. I just can’t see this on the Hot 100. Here’s the thing, Candice can take a piece of schmaltz and make it sound great with that voice of hers. She definitely delivered several big moments. Grade: B+

Now, Nicki and Keith get a chance to talk. If they thought someone took round two, they didn’t express that opinion. I give round two to Candice.

OK, now Ryan forces Keith and Nicki to make a choice. Keith says Kree took round two; Nicki says Candice did.

Kree Harrison: She’ll sing “Up to the Mountain,” which she performed way back in Vegas. And she immediately sounds more at home on this song. And her voice is absolutely fantastic on this. Those are the moments we’ve been waiting for,  Kree. In fact, there were two signature moments in that song. Simply splendid. Had the other two songs sounded like that, I’d say she had a shot at winning. Grade: A

Candice Glover: She’s going to perform “I Who Have Nothing.” And she’s going to start out a cappella. Candice won. I can tell you right now this is going to be great. That opening was spectacular. This was one of my picks for Top 10 Idol performances of the year, and I think Candice is going to do it even better tonight. Wow! That’s all I can say. Wow! That was fantastic, and a brave, brave way to open the song. Grade: A+

Randy says Candice shot the night to a whole new level and called that a winning performance. The judges are beside themselves over that performance. Score round three for Candice.