The top four girls on American Idol once again performed on Wednesday, taking on the theme ‘Then and Now.’ This means they’ll first sing a song from 2013 and then perform a standard, or any classic song. The girls also get a nice surprise as Harry Connick, Jr. was their mentor for the week.
Angie Miller starts the night off by singing her own arrangement of “Diamonds” by Rihanna. The judges all agree that her version didn’t impress them, with Keith Urban saying, “While I commend you doing an original take and changing the arrangement, I don’t think that’s the song to do it with.” Nicki Minaj also says, “You kind of were trying to boost the performance more with your body and less with your heart. It was bland, it was lackluster, you can do a lot better.” For the second theme, Miller sings “Someone To Watch Over Me.” Although the judges aren’t crazy about this performance either, Minaj tells her it was better than the first one. Randy Jackson also says, “I did not love the arrangement in the middle, it was confusing, I kind of lost it. But if you can sing, you can sing anything, and this girl can sing.”
Amber Holcomb is up next, and for her first performance she sings “Just Give Me A Reason” by Pink. Minaj and Jackson tell her she needs to let loose and be more free spirited when she performs, with Jackson saying “it was not stellar” and also advises her to have more fun. Urban also adds he loves the “clarity and the bell” in her voice. The judges are much more pleased with her second performance of “My Funny Valentine,” which leaves the judges on their feet and Holcomb in tears. Minaj tells her, “That was so beautiful, from the set to your outfit to your poise. You’re a superstar, you have fans everywhere. Stop [crying]. No matter what happens tomorrow, you have a lifetime ahead of you to make beautiful music. Please believe in yourself.”
Candice Glover then sings “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars for the first theme. Mariah Carey says, “Candice knows how to take any song and has the musicality to suit her. And that is what separates her from any competition.” Urban also adds, “I didn’t care about the man thing at all. When you sing like that, you could sing “When I was Your Giraffe,” it doesn’t matter. When you sing like that, that’s a winning performance.” For the second them, she decides to sing “You’ve Changed” by Billy Holliday. Jackson says, “You brought everything you needed, and that’s an amazing voice.” Carey adds, “There is no critiquing, the only critique is I’m going to download that ASAP. And you should follow suit.”
For the first theme, Kree Harrison sings “See You Again” by Carrie Underwood. Carey says, “I felt like you were very connected, in the beginning particularly, I felt you. I was really happy, I know that you didn’t go wild at the end, but really, I enjoy you so much because of how authentic you are.” Urban says he had trouble connecting to it but says her voice is “flawless.” Harrison then sings “Stormy Weather” for the second theme. Minaj says she wishes they all would have paid more attention to song choice, with Urban also telling her he would have chosen a different song. He also says not “lose the things that are natural about your stylistic way of singing. Just feel the things, because when they come out, they’re really beautiful.”
The night finishes off with a group performance of “Wings” from the girls. Thursday’s show will have one girl going home based on this week’s votes combined with last week’s. Who do you think is leaving the competition? Let us know in the comments below.