Idol Chatter & Voice Views

One of the most talented Top 3’s American Idol has showcased in years takes the stage Wednesday night.

And each of the three will perform three times.

One song will be chosen by the judges, one by Jimmy Iovine, one by the contestants.

Here are the rankings as we prepared to select the Season 12 finalists. Check back Wednesday for a live blog, complete with song by song grades.

1. Angie Miller (1): Two weeks ago, Randy Jackson wanted flair in the performances from his aspiring Idols. Last week, he said it should all come down to the voice. The truth lies someone in between, of course. After all these weeks, Angie is Season 12’s best combination of voice and charisma. And she might have pageant pretty looks, but that version of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” to open last week’s show displayed a whole lot more artistry than you’ll see in any pageant performance. By the way, I enjoyed that performance a whole lot more than the judges. It featured an absolutely brilliant opening that was Angie at her best.

2. Candice Glover (2): Mesmerized by Candice’s vocals last week, Nicki Minaj asked if she’s lost weight or something. Oh, Nicki. What happened is that the gal from St. Helena Island was fired up after her bottom-two finish the week before. The result was classic Candice and probably the two best vocals of the night. Candice could also see a bump in her support from the elimination of Amber Holcomb. If the votes cast for her go to someone else, they’re most likely to land in the lap of the other R&B singer in the competition.

3. Kree Harrison (3): If I went back and tracked the best performances from each week of the Idol finals, I’d find more Angie and Candice than Kree. That’s because Kree’s been more solid than spectacular, more musically consistent than memorable. And that’s probably why Idol seems to have marked her as the next likely candidate for elimination. It’s probably going to take spectacular this week for Kree to wrestle one of the spots in the finals from Angie or Candice.