'American Idol' recap: This Is a Woman's World

Adriana Latonio: Desinty's Child's "Stand Up for Love" -- It's a shame Adriana turned in such a hackneyed and off-key performance considering she had such prime placement as second-to-last singer. Her pageant-y and super-boring display would have fit right in near the beginning of the show, but as it was, it just stood out as woefully subpar -- like, why-and-how-did-this-girl-make-it bad.

That may seem harsh, but following Angela, Amber, and Kree, Adriana was a major buzzkill. That said, I would not be surprised if she advances anyway -- she'll be fresher in people's minds, plus she's cute, tiny, really really young, and Filipino. That's an incredible resumé right there. Anything can happen.

Candice Glover: John Legend's "Ordinary People" -- Ah, the "pimp spot." I'm so glad Candice got it at just the right time. She needed the confidence boost, and we viewers needed her powerful vocal to soar with more of a "Listen up, bitches!" authority than usual. Like Randy -- yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, YO, yo -- I found Candice's musicality "ridiculous" in that she "sang notes people don't even understand how they could fit into a chord." As awkward as that sentence reads, I get it, and I'm down with it. "I'm learning, listening to you." Exactly!

The only thing I worry about with Candice is that she'll get lost in the shuffle with an early placement/less momentum in future shows. But I'd worry the same thing about Kree -- with both, you might not remember their outfits or the way they moved around, but the vocals are so solid that none of that should matter. For now, these are my two front-runners.

"May the goosebumps continue," foreshadowed the Wizardess Carey -- presumably addressing Kree but creepily looking off to her left to showcase her face's "good side." I kept thinking "Can Mariah please cut that out?" at the time, but now, looking back as the clock strikes 2 a.m., I've decided these facial gymnastics are so deliciously absurd that I could not live without them. I can't! I won't.

And now, your moment of zen:

Ryan Seacrest: Weave Expert.

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Read more:
All 'American Idol' recaps on EW.com
Zoanette Johnson: Really, 'American Idol'?! -- VIDEO
Mariah Carey gets the Nicki Minaj phone call: A dramatization
'American Idol': 12 Wishes for Season 12

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