‘Idol’ recap: Stormy weather for Randy
Guest mentor Harry Connick Jr, has some choice words for the Dawg
Seemed like a pretty conventional night as far as American Idol sing-offs go.
We're still stuck at four because no one got sent home last week. Amnesty! Amnesty!
Your task this week, ladies: Now and Then. First a song from 2013 and then a standard. Because of course we want to give these girls the best chance to shine.
How about some 70-year-old chestnuts from the American Songbook? Candice is the oldest of the crew at 23. Angie and Amber are 18. So of course this is a musical style they will excel at.
Let's raise the bar higher: bring back Harry Connick Jr, a strict traditionalist with the classics, to mentor the girls. That'll really nail their feet to the floor.
The scores from last week are putatively carrying over to this week. Somewhat surprisingly, Amber and Candice had been the bottom two. But last night could well even things out since Kree and Angie took a considerable amount of flack from the judges.
Best non-musical moment of the night: Randy was giving Kree a hard time after she sang "Stormy Weather", a torch song from 1933. He wasn't feeling it. Why didn't she sing it in the less sedate manner of Etta James? Um, were you watching the tape package that just aired with Connick urging Kree in a more soigné Lena Horne direction?
At this point Connick flipped his top, bumrushing the judges' table to shout, at one point, "Randy! Randy! Stop! Stop!" (That's polite speak for "Shut up, you big lummox!")
Ha! If 12 seasons of Idol have taught us anything, it's that words can't hurt the Dawg. He continued to blather about how he just wanted Kree to be Kree. A reasonable enough request, but also a slam on Connick's very specific coaching. A frustrated Connick sputtered, ""Yes we want you to be Kree, just be the Etta James version!"
We rush to assure you, Mr. Connick, Randy meant no harm. He was, as is his custom, just trying to show off that he knew other singers had covered the same material. Had he known "Stormy Weather" originated with Ethel Waters he would have been urging Kree to turn on the Waters Works.
Best musical moment of the night: Candice's superb rendition of "When I was Your Man", the current hit for Bruno Mars. Enjoy.
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