'American Idol' Recap: Lazaro Arbos' Fate Decided; Burnell Taylor Tweets 'GOD IS GOOD!'
Everyone, breathe a sigh of relief.Lazaro Arbos' improbable, Sanjaya-like run on American Idol is over: after weeks of remaining in the competition despite being talentless and tone-deaf and unprepared, the sweaty ice cream scooper was finally voted out Thursday night in an unpredictable elimination round that could sentAmber Holcomb home instead.
Last week's cast-off Burnell Taylor, who is kinda-sorta dating Amber, tweeted: "GOD IS GOOD!"
The way things were divided up, Lazaro an! d Amber wound up in the bottom two with Angie Miller and Janelle Arthur in the middle and -- big shock -- Candice Glover and Kree Harrison on top with the most votes.
Even though Lazaro is THE WORST, a feeling of dread loomed throughout the episode: with his invisible but potent fan base (seriously, WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE?), and his status as the only dude in the contest, and his sympathy-baiting back story, could he even be stopped?!? After the result was announced, and justice served, Lazaro -- who surely knew the judges wouldn't waste their save on him -- went on to perform a surprisingly non-sucky rendition of "Feeling Good" while the panel pretended to deliberate. The cameras caught Mariah Carey crying and Randy Jackson, who called Lazaro "horrible" on Wednesday night, cackling with glee.
"We love you. You've been a treasure to the show," lied Randy, faking a serious demeanor (but clearly still laughing inside). "We've enjoyed you but we're notgonnause the save."
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With that, the remaining five -- all girls! -- surrounded Lazaroto extend their condolences. Amber openly wept. Angie did not. (Didn't you know? She passive-aggressively loathesLazaro.)
America got it right once more by bumping Candice up from on-the-fence to frontrunner territory following her jaw-droppinglypowerful covers of "Love Song" and "Don't Make Me Over." I'll say it again, she's too d! amn good ! for the show. So is Kree. Those two are way far ahead of the others in terms of vocal prowess and professionalism and I predict one is going to take the Idol crown come May.
But don't rule out Angie. The bright-eyed, likable singer/pianist is clearly going places -- perhaps she'll trailColton Dixon into the Christian rock genre -- and likely has some neat (yes, I said neat, because I'm stuck in 1993 like Mariah) tricks up her sleeve. Amber, asJimmy Iovine noted, is a major talent but lacks the kind of fan support that keeps an erratic but charismatic performer like Janelle in the game.
"Why America doesn't get her, I'm completely baffled," lamented Jimmy of Amber, for whom he's harbored the most obvious crush this season. (Somewhere, Burnell is all, "Back off, old man.")
VIDEO: Why Sanjaya MalakarWas Better ThanLazaro Arbos
Jimmy also addressed something that bugs me aboutKree: she can be really boring sometimes! As in, "Oh crap, I'm at aNorah Jones concert and there is not enough Franzia to get me through this." The otherwise outstanding Nashville upstart's snooze-y take on "What the World Needs Now Is Love" was painful. Just painful. "She'sgonna have to give us a lot more personality in those vocals," quoth Jimy, doling out the tough love.
In other news, I almost stabbed myself in the eye during that BurtBacharach/Hal David medley. What the bleep, Nigel Lythgoe. No one wants to hear that garbage. If next week's theme is something equally awful, like Nickelbacksongs from the early aughts, I'm Seacrest out, OK?
Scotty "Baby Lock Them Doors" McCreery, meanwhile, graced the Idol stage to sing "See You Tonight" ! and
Kevin Bacon, picking up the Anthony Hopkins torch of weird celebrity cameos, sat in the audience, confessing he "would be terrified" to get on stage and sing. The actor's appearance was far from random: his new TV drama,The Killing, just so happens to hair on Fox. WHAT A COINCIDENCE.
So many questions, Idol Worshippers: did you rejoice after Lazaro's elimination? Will season 12 become even more boring without him? Which girl is your pick to win the Idol title? Sound off in the comments!
Twitter: @ErinLCarlson
Email: erin.carlson@thr.com
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