There was a lot to say about the top 4’s second chance to win America’s votes, and there were plenty of disagreements. Harry Connick Jr. returned to Idol as a mentor this week, and didn’t hold back in his criticisms of the contestants or the judges.

After last week’s “surprise” result of no one being sent home, last week’s votes will be combined with this week’s to determine which contestant will be eliminated. You may recall that Angie and Kree had the most votes last week, and Candice and Amber were in the bottom two, so it was up to them to win over America this week.

This week’s theme was “Now and Then” with the contestants taking on songs from 2013 in the first round, followed by old standards in the second round. They also closed the show with a group performance of U.K. X Factor winners Little Mix’s song “Wings,” which featured so many unnecessary backup dancers that it was difficult to determine who was actually singing.

Songs from 2013

Angie Miller

Angie was the first to meet with Harry, and they joked around a lot during her rehearsal of Rihanna’s “Diamonds.” Angie broke the song down, making it into her own simple version, and it sounded almost Latin. The judges admired her vocals, but felt it was a terrible song to choose if she was looking to completely change the arrangement. They also felt that she was playing to the camera and to the audience too much, and her performance did not seem as genuine as it usually does when she’s at the piano.

Amber Holcomb

Amber sang Pink’s “Just Give Me a Reason” for Harry in rehearsals, but unfortunately forgot most of her words. Though she was embarrassed, Harry loved her connection to the music as she snapped and hummed her way through the parts she couldn’t remember. If she could bring that same energy to her performance, America would love her. However, though she sounded great, Amber didn’t move from one spot on the stage for her entire performance. She was so caught up with trying to remember the words, she didn’t truly connect to the song. The judges encouraged her to have more fun.

Candice Glover

Candice chose Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” and while there was much discussion of her singing a man’s song without changing the pronouns, her performance transcended all of that. She so perfectly portrayed the emotion and sentiment of the song, that anyone would have to be crazy to so much as notice the pronouns. After all the judges gave her a standing ovation, Keith even said, “When you sing like that, you can sing ‘If I Was Your Giraffe’!” Candice’s first single, perhaps?

Kree Harrison

Kree took on Carrie Underwood’s “See You Again,” which Harry absolutely loved in rehearsals, and told her he “wouldn’t change a frickin’ note.” Her challenge after last week’s critiques was to show some emotion in her performances, and boy did she ever deliver with this one. She kept the vocals simple, but really connected with the audience and the song, at times looking almost teary. The judges weren’t particularly enthusiastic, but did note the improvement from last week.

On the next page: The ‘standards’ chosen by the contestants

Standards

Angie Miller

Angie picked “Someone To Watch Over Me” for her standard selection, because it was one her mom always used to sing around the house. Harry was very strict with her about keeping it simple and respecting the melody of the song. Angie’s performance started off beautifully, with a simple vocal that paid tribute to the original. But as the song progressed, the arrangement got strange, and Angie had to ride it out. The judges may not have loved the arrangement, but they loved her performance, and Nicki even likened her to a Disney princess.

Nicki and Mariah seemed particularly on edge tonight, and during her critique for Angie, Mariah remarked that she disagreed that “every moment had to be at the top of your Disney princess range.” This flew Nicki into a tizzy, and as Mariah tried to continue with her notes for Angie, Nicki started going off about Mariah needing to clean her ears out, and actually produced a Q-tip for the sake of her argument. All this really raises the question of why Nicki Minaj has Q-tips so readily available at the judging table.

Amber Holcomb

Amber revisited her earlier sudden death round performance of Frank Sinatra’s “My Funny Valentine” for this week, and Harry worried that she didn’t truly understand the message of the song and wouldn’t be able to properly connect with it. During her performance, Amber sounded beautiful, but looked upset and showed absolutely no connection to the song. She started crying as soon as she finished because she was so stressed about the competition. The judges encouraged her to be proud of her performance and forget about votes, and Nicki was even brought to tears by Amber’s emotion.

Candice Glover

Candice chose Billie Holiday’s “You’ve Changed,” which is a very emotional song. Harry felt her biggest challenge would be to truly focus on the meaning of the lyrics as she sang them, in order to genuinely portray their meaning to the audience through her performance. Looking gorgeous in her first dress of the season, Candice sold every note of the song, with an absolutely perfect vocal. The judges had no complaints whatsoever.

Kree Harrison

Harry once again emphasized the importance of keeping the standards simple in Kree’s rehearsal for “Stormy Weather.” There are many different versions of the song, but Kree needed to learn the original melody and stick to it. The judges weren’t thrilled with her song choice, but especially not with her approach to it. They don’t want her to lose the organic honesty in her performances and in her vocals that makes her who she is.

In the rehearsal footage before the performance, Kree and Harry discussed a few different classic versions of “Stormy Weather,” including Etta James’ and Lena Horne’s. Kree said she had grown up with Etta’s version, while Harry was more partial to Lena’s because it’s the original. Perhaps due to his preference, Kree’s performance was more similar to the Lena Horne version, and Randy criticized her for it, saying she should have stuck to her guns and sung the bluesier Etta James version.

Ryan called upon Harry in the audience to defend his influence over Kree’s decision. After Keith pulled him up to take his place at the judges’ table (during which Harry faux-fangirled over holding hands with Keith Urban), Harry explained that he wasn’t trying to get her to sing it in a particular style, he just wanted her to listen to the original so that she could learn the melody before making it her own. He criticized Randy for trying to force Kree into singing an existing “version” of the song, and when Randy tried to argue with him, Harry shut him down.

Tune in tonight to see who will be the top 3 contestants of season 12!

Who do you think will be going home tonight? Do you think Harry overstepped his bounds as mentor?