‘American Idol’ top 5 rankings: Candice Glover shoots past Kree Harrison, Angie Miller

On “American Idol,” there are game-changing performances, and then there are performances so great they stretch beyond the walls of competition and into the music industry. There were people watching a certain performance from the #1 artist on our rankings this week who are not even fans of the show, and these are people who may tune in to what is sure to be a serious battle of the titans now with the remaining ladies. Kree Harrison, Angie Miller, Candice Glover, Amber Holcomb, and Janelle Arthur are all pretty stellar performers. But who is going to win? The picture may now be a little clearer.

Momentum is something that we take very highly in our rankings here, but we also consider a singer’s overall body of work, and the past tendencies of the audience to vote for them.

Top 5 Rankings

5. Amber Holcomb (last week: 4) – Now that there is no longer Lazaro to fall back on as the token “contestant who should be eliminated,” Amber is in danger more than ever before. We have a hard time thinking that her vocal ability is the reason why shy has been in danger a couple of times; rather, it’s all about connecting to the audience, and there’s something missing there when it comes to her personality. We don’t know if we can see her in the top three.

4. Janelle Arthur (6) – What is interesting is that before the top ten started, we had the three ladies above as the three who would be there near the end. This list has changed from time to time, but the recent voting results (plus Janelle’s so-so outing on Wednesday) cement her to fourth place for the time being.

3. Angie Miller (2) – Truth be told, Angie gave one of her best performances in weeks on the show Wednesday night. Unfortunately, her problem was strictly that two people managed to give performances that were even more mesmerizing, and she is going to have to find another gear moving forward in order to keep up. She’s great, but in order to win, she will need to be phenomenal.

2. Kree Harrison (1) – Kree can definitely sing like nobody’s business, and she has that added benefit of the Nashville audience and country community backing her up. She should be able to find a record deal as soon as she gets off the show, but that doesn’t mean that she is in the pole position to win.

1. Candice Glover (3) – Remember how we’ve said that Candice really needed to come out and deliver a knockout punch? Well, we think she was offended by every judge not named Mariah Carey omitting her from their top three performers a little over a week ago, and it lit a fire in her bright enough to be seen from space. Her cover of “Love Song” was not just a gift to ears everywhere, but it was one of those performances that regardless of whether or not discerning eyes are in the room, you have to stand up, holler, and/or raise hands to their during. It was the best thing, hands-down, on “American Idol” season 12.

Who do you think is primed to win “American Idol” season 12 now? Be sure to put your vote in the poll below! Meanwhile, be sure to check out some parting words from Lazaro Arbos over at the link here.

Photo: Fox