I'm Every Woman

Just kidding, nobody did Chaka. But why not? What was the theme tonight? Divas? And something else. Song from the year you were born? That's the first round.

The Battle of the Boobs continues, this salvo fired by Nikki. Double barreled.

Dr. L said she loves how casual Keith is every night. 

First up, Candice: she's doing what you're supposed to do to win -- make a well known song your own, and turn in a good performance doing it. Straight Up actually sounded kind of cool here. She's probably in no danger in the KOD spot here. Nikki said she sang it like a BOSS, lol.

I like the new feature where Jimmy gives his snarky comments on the break. 

Janelle -- Vince Gill made her stop crying. Will she be crying tomorrow because of him? This was perhaps an appeal to hard-core Country fans, to snake away some votes from Kree? It was a little too much tear-in-your-beer for me. It was kind of Whatev for Dr. L. She has a pretty voice, but I disagreed with the judges, that the "comfort" was what she should be going for. It didn't have a "wow" factor for me. Keith spoke da truth. Jimmy agreed!

Holy crap these Idols are making me feel old. Kree was born in 1990? Jeez.

OK, She Talks to Angels, Black Crowes. Pretty smart song choice for crossover votes, I think. This is what i meant about Janelle going the other route, this was more pop. But she does what Candice does, which sets them apart. Not the best performance ever, but good enough to cement her top 2-3 status. Judges squabble but they basically agree she's moving up.

Angela was a fat baby like me! Hee! Her mom's voice sounds eerily exactly like her.  She's dedicating Stnad By You to Boston -- I forget she's from there. She did a good job, but like Nikki, we didn't feel the need to stand for that. Watching hr, I did think that someday she could be a pop star. If she can get a little personality injection, she could make it. Randy cracks a good joke about the judges and Jimmy being a "Top 5" group LOL. Jimmy basically calls Angie a drama queen.

Amber: doing Harry Nillson's I Can't Live (if Living Is Without You) -- not really Mariah's, but how would these kids know? Kelly did a better version. Amber had to start in such a low key it was almost inaudible. She made the key change all right. It was kind of pageant-y for me, but Dr. L liked it better. Keith makes a cringe-worth Amber alert joke. Nikki basically agreed with my view of the performance. Jimmy too!

Round Two -- DIVA time!

Candice: doing a Disney Mariah/Whitney song. She shows she has the real pipes to take on one of these songs. Oh shit, the choir descends from heaven in fog behind her. She's making Mariah cry! It's hard to be critical of real, sho 'nuff talent. She has it. Kids voting across the country will respond to this song. The judges are all gobsmacked. She looks lovely, I think she's our favorite.

Janelle: doing a lesser-known Dolly Parton song. This was a mistake, especially coming after Candice; this was like a Top 10 level performance. Nothing about this is in the same league with the other performances. I think she's going home. Why didn't she do Jolene? It was a nice thing Nikki said, keeping janelle's eye on the future. She can definitely be a Country star.

Kree: doing Celine. A great, powerful version, but somehow not as far into the stratosphere as it should have been. I think Candice still has the edge. This is like two competitions in one: the battle between Candice and Kree, The battle between Amber and Angie, and Janelle is kind of the odd one out.

BTW, isn't it amazing how the stylists start to get dialed in about this point in the competition? And then there was Angie's dress. WTF was that?

Angie's doing Halo. I wish I was playing Halo. I'm not a fan of Beyonce, but this was a pretty good performance. She still lacked the oomph that Beyonce is able to bring to it -- is it soul? Maybe she has no soul. I don't agree with Keith -- I don't disagree she has a great voice, but I wish there was some kind of spiritual connection with her singing that I get with Candice, a little with Kree, and never with Angie.

Amber: doing Babs. Incredible. This was one of those pure, transcendant performances like when Candice did the Cure last week. I was worried it would be too old when it began. After a couple of seconds I didn't care -- it was everything that was missing from Angie's songs. I was riveted. I don't think I've held Amber in this much respect before. She could be the dark horse and win this thing. 

To me, it's Candice, Kree/Amber (a tie between these two), Angie, Janelle. Janelle goes home.

Thank GOD there was no Lazaro this week, right?