I missed the show this week, actually. And I didn't feel like watching my DVR recording until Friday morning. That's what I think of Motown week. So, this recap won't have some of the same features as my usual recaps.
Oh, sorry, it's Detroit week! Anyone from Detroit is fair game? I can't WAIT to hear who takes on "Lose Yourself" by Eminem. Surely, they'd change it to "Detroit Week" from "Motown Week" for a reason, right?
The Top 8: Motown Week Songs from Detroit
Candice Glover "Heard It Through the Grapevine"Probably one of the better versions of this song done on Idol. And there's a hell of a lot of them! If I had to guess, I'd guess this song has been done every single year. Unfortunately, I'm holding that against Candice. But I love her.
I'm not even bothering with the duets and trios. Sorry Idol.
Lazaro Arbos "For Once In My Life"
Much better than recent efforts. Still not great, but much, much better. At least he doesn't look like he's going to burst into tears!
Janelle Arthur "Keep Me Hanging On"
Absolutely phenomenal. I'm sure Motown purists hated this... but Janelle took yet another tired song choice and warped it into something totally new, contemporary, and fantastic. Brilliant.
Devin Valez "Tracks of My Tears"
Idol's resident lounge singer was a trainwreck on this song. It's one thing to not quite connect with a song's lyrics, it's another thing entirely to completely ignore them. A mess and a half.
Burnell Taylor "My Cherie Amour"
What a strange performance. Burnell does some completely fantastic things vocally here... but also constricts his voice really weirdly at times. Hard to explain, but it's almost like he's trying to add a quirkiness to his voice that does not need to be there. Still, overall a good performance.
Angie Miller "Shop Around"
What even is this? I understand that Angie probably wants to show she can do more than the Colton Dixon type stuff she shines on... but make sure you can pull something off before you try to do it. This performance was a mess in almost every way possible. Yikes.
Amber Holcomb "Lately"
I'm glad this week had Stevie in it. He's really under-represented on the Idol stage. This performance was pretty fantastic, but not exactly anything new from Amber. Wonderful vocals as always, but she's just not the most exciting contestant.
Kree Harrison "Don't Play That Song"
Drop that mic, Kree. Those runs in the choruses? No big deal, just whatever. Just Kree. I do feel like she was holding back a little bit... but when you do what she does week in and week out, why bring out the big guns now?
Wrap Up
Kree and Candice continue to pull away from the pack, and Janelle hops on board the leader train too. Angie bumped off? I'd say so.
Speaking of trains, the Devin train hit a wall and was sent packing, and rightfully so (based on this week, anyway). Lazaro will probably get the boot last week, leaving a top 6 that is probably as it should be.
Coincidence that the guys are getting picked off one-by-one? Not at all. The girls are just that much better than this season... which I'm sure is by total coincidence, right Idol producers?
Timm's Votes
Obviously, I didn't vote this week, but if I had....
Janelle - 20
Kree - 17
Candice - 13
I like to think week-to-week with my votes. Janelle was the clear cut winner for me this week, with Kree and Candice rounding out my top 3.
As for my bottom three... Devin, Angie and Lazaro, with Lazaro going home (based on the body of work... because he was the best of those three this week).
