AI Season 12- Top 3 Performance

So, tonight we have the Hometown Visits, which were instituted back in Season 2 (I think- I'm pretty sure they didn't do it in Kelly Clarkson's season). We get a bit of advance excitement, jets, parades, flowers, and tears. Same old same old.

Nicki is in pink and cleavage. What might be her own actual hair has been crimped and curled in an unusual manner, with lots of black root showing. Mariah is wearing a white knit belly shirt with a scalloped hem, and a low-slung white pleated semi-full skirt with a scalloped hem. I do believe that she's been working on the abs. Randy is in a black leather jacket with a red felt R stuck haphazardly to the lapel. Keith is in a faded purple tee. Ryan is wearing a pewter suit, a baby blue striped shirt with a white collar, and a baby blue tie.

Since each of the girls is singing three songs tonight (one chosen by Jimmy Iovine, one chosen by the judges- all together, agreeing on something, imagine that, and one chosen by the producers), we get right down to business.

#1. JI has chosen Perfect for Kree. She's wearing blue jeans with one holey knee, a black top, and a shorter white jacket with gold trim on the lapels. And stiletto booties (bootielettos). Her tone is excellent and she's connecting with the audience well (something Kree has had trouble doing). This is a very good performance.
K: Kree is a country girl, with a signature sound
N: warm sweet voice, but the song was too short, recommends that Kree wear flats so she can dance around the stage more
R: yo, didn't love the song choice, acknowledges that Kree wasn't responsible for that
M: babbles on and on about herself

#2. JI has chosen U2's One for Candice. She's wearing a leopard print top which is gathered between the boobs, a black leather bolero with shirred sleeves, black pants, and a sparkly chain necklace. Candice sings effortlessly as always, but it wasn't a great song for her.
N: loved her secret husband's song choice, Candice did the song justice
R: in it to win it
M: babble babble
K: great song choice, felt every bit of the emotion

#3. JI has chosen Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word for Angie. She's wearing a black leather and spandex dress with cut-in shoulders, which manages to be both longer and looser than the stuff she usually wears. Tonight Angie has straight hair. The stage floor fills with smoke, and Angie is not sitting at the piano, which  makes no sense since they're always after her to play, and this is an Elton John song. At any rate, she sounds fine until she gets to the high notes, which make my ears bleed.
R: wow wow wow, and then harps on the lack of piano so much that it makes Angie visibly uncomfortable
M: refers every comment back to herself, as usual
K: should have held back a little more
N: loves the dress and shoes, thought there wasn't quite enough emotion in the performance

Jimmy Iovine Opines: Kree was good but not as good as she should have been, Angie was stellar even without the piano, Candice was good but Angie took the round.

During the Judge's Choice Round, the girls will sing in a different order, and we'll see clips from each hometown visit.

#4. Candice is wearing a royal blue zip-front top and matching zip-front jacket (with lapels, it's not a windbreaker), over wildly patterned black and white pants, and platform patent leather boots. This time, she's wearing a heavy silver medallion necklace, and big hoop earrings with lots of sharp pokey-points like they are some kind of Ninja weapon.

On her trip to her South Carolina island home we see: rain, crowds, cheering, greeting of the former boss, a staged answering of the phone, riding on a Vespa-like scooter, cousins, family, tears, limo, cheering, more tears, concert, and Candice Glover Day.

The judges have chosen Next to me, by Emily Sunday (Sandy? Sundae?). I don't know this song, but I like it, and as usual, Candice's performance is easy and comfortable.
M: A+mazing (Me: that's exactly what Mariah said: A plus mazing), Candice was obviously re-energized by her home visit
K: the opening lyrics were a perfect confession, and Candice ended in the zone
N (teary and barely able to talk): came out swinging
R: congratulates himself and the show for choosing that song

#5. Angie is wearing black pants, and a black sleeveless top with gold and red trim down the center front. Her dorky brother joins her on stage for a bit.

On her visit to Beverly, Mass, we see how being from a Big Town is not quite as moving on these hometown visits. No one meets Angie at the airport, and her crowds are markedly smaller than either of the other girls'.  But still, there were: TV green screens, waving at empty streets from limos, lots of Boston Strong signs, coffee shop, very small crowd, squealing friends, elementary school, screaming small children adorably presenting dandelion bouquets, parents and brother (no other family that I saw), snuggly kitty, parade people walking along with the car, good crowd for concert, song with brother, tears.

I missed the title of the song that the judges chose for Angie, but it's fierce. I'm never going to love Angie's voice (especially her upper register), but this is her least pageanty performance to date. It was genuinely entertaining.
K: Angie never looked so comfortable on stage as she does tonight
N: shows Keith her notes to prove that she wrote exactly the same thing down
R: name dropping and more self-congratulation
M: Angie found her place

#6. Kree is wearing a dowdy black prom dress with a high-necked black lace yoke.

Her Texas hometown visit is different from the others' given that her parents both died young. Kree meets with her sister and walks through the wreck of the old family home. It's extremely sad. On a happier note, there are: lots of other family members, crawfish, babies, great small town parade, rodeo, mutton wrangling, mechanical bull riding, concert, and then we finish with more sweet and sad.

The judges have given Kree Rascal Flatt's Here Comes Good-Bye. It's a plaintive and lovely performance, exactly of a piece with the montage we just saw.

N(visibly crying): Kree reconnected with herself and it shows
R: Most Talented Top 3 Ever!
M (red eyes): overwhelmed with emotion
K: too sniffly to talk

JI Opines: Not the best song choice for Candice. Kree won the round.

The final songs of the night were chosen by the producers, which are almost always horribly ill-suited to the kids. We're going to have to zip right through the performances (and more importantly, the critiques... ahem, Mariah) in order to finish in time, since there are less than thirty minutes left.

#7. The producers have chosen Maybe (another Emily Sandy/Sunday/Sundae song) for Angie. She's at the piano in a black leather sleeveless vest over a black and white print top, and shortie shorts. She sounds fine, but she's back to following the camera's every move with her eyes, and bouncing weirdly on the piano bench (Note to Angie: hit the bathroom before you go onstage, honey). Except for the high notes, this sounds fine.
R: Angie is a complete performer, with or without the piano, or even standing next to it
M: agrees with Randy, though the song was in a fairly high key
K: recommends singing underneath the piano next week
N: Angie has come full circle and her growth has exceeded expectations

#8. The producers have chosen Better Dig Two, by The Band Perry for Kree. She's wearing a black leather jacket over a sexy black leather bustier, and black jeans. This is a real fiddlin' country song, and Kree is rockin' it.
M: loves to see Kree's wild side
K: loves the song but it wasn't the perfect song for Kree
N: disliked the song choice, but Kree did the best she could with it
R: same babble some more

#9. The producers have chosen Somewhere for Candice. Yeah, that one. From West Side Story. Candice is wearing a sparkly black long gown with a drapey neckline. She has on a very cool, very ornate silver and stone necklace. We start with the kettle drum, and pan past an entire orchestra, to Candice in the center of the stage. This is full-on Broadway. And wow wow wow wow. And wow some more. Okay, that last note had just a bit of wobble, but still, wow. The camera catches Keith with his Enraptured Listening Face- it's purely adorable.
Candice gets a 4-way Standing O, the only one of the night.
K: is so beside himself that he can't form actual words
N: four words: see ya next week!
R: Greatest! Vocal! In! Idol! History!
M: thanks Candice for making her cry again.

They zipped through the performances and comments too quickly, so Jimmy Iovine is dragged out on stage to kill a couple more minutes. He says that Candice won the entire night with that performance.

My Round 1 Ranking:
1. Candice
2. Kree
3. Angie

My Round 2 Ranking:
1. Kree
2. Candice
3. Angie

My Round 3 Ranking:
1. Candice
2. Kree
3. Angie

For me, Candice won the evening handily, with Kree a solid second. But I'm not taking bets as to who will be voted out (no one's going home- all of the finalists have already gathered to begin rehearsal for the finale).

Also, I have a school band concert tomorrow night, so I'm recording the show and may not even watch it until Friday morning. I'll get the recap up as soon as I can.