American Idol 2013 Winner: Candice Glover Wins AI Season 12

Finally a girl won American Idol after six long years. On American Idol Season 12 finale held May 16 (May 17 in Manila), Candice Glover inherited Phillip Phillip's crown and was hailed American Idol 2013 winner.

Candice Glover is the fifth girl to win Idol in the historic season 12 where all boys were eliminated before the opposite gender. It was also the first girl vs girl American Idol finale since season 3 (way back in 2004) and the first to crown a female winner since Jordin Sparks in 2007. The singer from St. Helena, South Carolina beat Texas' Kree Harrison in the finals held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

The American Idol Top 2 sang three songs each on the finale performance night—Simon Fuller's choice, their coronation song and the contestant's favorite song of the season. Candice's performances of Adele's Chasing Pavements, I (Who Have Nothing), and her coronation song I Am Beautiful were highly praised by the judges.

Candice helped co-write I Am Beautiful which was perfectly tailored not only to her vocal range and style but also with her Idol background story which mostly arc on self-esteem.

Check out Candice Glover's American Idol 12 coronation song I Am Beautiful performance:

Photo courtesy of Americanidolnet.com

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American Idol 2013 Top 8 Results Show: Devin Velez Eliminated

Devin Velez gets the boot on  the Top 8 Elimination (Results Night) of American Idol Season 12, March 28 (March 29 in Manila). Devin, who sang his rendition of Tracks of My Tears on last night's performance show got the lowest number of votes and apparently, was not saved by the judges.

Devin, who has always been part of the bottom group was joined by Burnell Taylor and Lazaro Arbos in Ryan's stools tonight.

Before Devin was escorted out of the Idol stage, we were treated with the performances of returning American Idol alums Katherine McPhee (who sing with One Republic) and Colton Dixon. Idol judge Keith Urban also brought the house down.

Last night, the American Idol 2013 Top 8 gave us another spectacular, singing the Motown classics. With this theme being done almost every season, we of course would always expect Smokey Robinson being the guest mentor. 

Of last night's performances, it was Amber Holcomb, Candice Glover and Angie Miller's I'm Gonna Make You Love which stood out and then there's Amber's Lately performance which earned her a standing ovation from the judges. The boys' trio of Devin Velez, Burnell Taylor and Lazaro Arbos was just helpless after judge Nicki Minaj lash out on them for their very poor rendition of I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch).

Next week, the safe Idol contestants Kree Harrison, Candice Glover, Janelle Arthur, Angie Miller, Amber Holcomb along with Burnell Taylor and Lazaro Arbos will be back on the Idol stage to sing for your votes. Who will be eliminated next week? As this early, a girl to girl finale is almost 100% sure.

Photo courtesy of Americanidolnet.com

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Jessica Sanchez Returns on American Idol Stage this March 21

American Idol Season 11 runner-up Jessica Sanchez is set to return on American Idol this Thursday, March 21(Friday morning in Manila) for the American Idol Season 12 Top 9 results show.

The Fil-Mexican will debut her new single Tonight with Ne-Yo on American Idol. Her debut album "Me, You & the Music" will be released this May and is also available for pre-order on iTunes starting March 21. Jessica will also show her debut cover of MEGA Magazine to the world (check out her MEGA January 2013 cover here).

Aside from the release of her album in May, Jessica will also appear on the Fox hit musical TV series Glee the same month. Jessica will play a legendary singer from a rival high school and is set to appear on Glee's May 2 episode and the season finale on May 9.

Below is MEGA magazine's press release indicating the return of Jessica Sanchez on the Idol stage:

"MEGA, the Philippines’ best fashion magazine, is proud to have Jessica Sanchez on the cover of the January 2013 issue, and her first ever at that. The Season 11 runner up is coming back to American Idol and this time as a full-fledged artist, performing alongside Ne-Yo for her upcoming single and at the same time showing her debut cover of MEGA Magazine to the whole world. 

Jessica’s new album, “Me, You and The Music,” is out in May and according to her she was pretty much involved in the creation of the project. She claims that this is where she will be able to show her new and improved self – Jessica Sanchez 2013.

Be sure to catch her on American Idol on March 21, 2013, 6PM only on ETC.

MEGA Magazine is a prestige publication of One Mega Group."

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Fil-Am Adriana Latonio Enters American Idol 2013 Top 20

Filipino-American Adriana Latonio has survived the Top 40 Las Vegas Round of American Idol Season 12.  The 17-year-old diva from Alaska wowed the judges with her rendition of the Aretha Franklin hit Ain't No Way, earning her a spot at the American Idol 2013 Top 20 semi-finalists.

In the episode shown Wednesday (Thursday morning in Manila), 10 out of the 20 girls belonging to the Top 40 performed during the "Sudden Death" round. Half of the girls were eliminated while the other half advanced in the competition.

All the judges—Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj— were impressed by the petite Fil-Am singer telling Adriana that she's ready to conquer the stage. Adriana is one of the three hopefuls with Pinoy blood in the American Idol 2013 Top 40. The other two are Bridget "Jett" Hermano and Bryant Tadeo.

Along with Idol hopefuls Teena Torres, Kree Harrison, Angela Miller and Amber Holcomb, Adriana Latonio will advance to the “Sing For Your Votes” round of the competition. Joining them are Charlie Askew,  Elijah Liu, Paul Jolley, Curtis Finch Jr, Devin Velez and 10 others to be determined on next week's episode.

Watch Adriana Latonio's performance of Ain't No Way below:

Photo courtesy of USA Today

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American Idol 2013 Top 40 Spoilers: Fil-Ams Bryant Tadeo, Adriana Latonio and Jett Hermano In!

American Idol Season 12 (2013) will premiere this January 16, 2013 on Fox and many websites have already released spoilers on the Top 40 contestants who made it to the Las Vegas round. The American Idol 2013 Top 40 is comprised of 20 boys and 20 girls and according to reports, three Filipino-Americans made it to the list—Bryant Tadeo, Adriana Latonio and Jett Hermano.

Bryant Tadeo is from Hawaii and a second-timer in American Idol. He auditioned last year (AI Season 11) and made it to the Hollywood rounds. Meanwhile, this will be the first time for young diva Adriana Latonio, who at this early has been compared to Jessica Sanchez, another half-Filipino who emerged as the American Idol 2012 runner-up. Bridget "Jett" Hermano, on the other hand is born and raised in Seattle, Washington and reportedly the 1st "Asian American Idol" in the Fil-Am community of Seattle.

Will these three capture the hearts of the judges and eventually make it to American Idol 2013 Top 24? Let's find out if all these rumors and speculations are true this January on American Idol Season 12.

Here are the American Idol 12 Top 40 spoilers:

Top 20 Boys

Top 20 Girls

1. Bryant Tadeo [AI11 HW] 2. Burnell Taylor 3. Charlie Askew 4. Chris Watson [AI7 HW] 5. Cortez Shaw [AI11 SFYL/GM] 6. Curtis Finch, Jr. [AI11 LVR] 7. David Willis 8. Devin Velez 9. Elijah Liu [AI11 HW] 10. Gurpreet Singh Sarin 11. Jimmy Smith 12. Johnny Keyser [AI11 LVR] 13. Joshua “Josh” Holiday 14. Joshua “Josh” Jada Davila 15. Kevin Harris 16. Lazaro Arbos 17. Mathenee Treco [AI11 LVR] 18. Nick Boddington [AI11 LVR] 19. Paul Jolley 20. Vincent Powell [AI11 HW]

1. Adriana Latonio 2. Amber Holcomb [AI11 LVR] 3. Angela Miller 4. Aubrey Cleland [AI10 HW & AI11 SFYL/GM] 5. Brandy Hotard 6. Breanna Steer 7. Candice Glover [AI9 HW & AI11 LVR] 8. Cristabel Clack 9. Isabel Pasqualone 10. Janelle Arthur [AI10 HW & AI11 LVR] 11. Jenny Beth Willis 12. Jett Hermano 13. Juliana Chahayed 14. Kamaria Ousley 15. Kree Harrison 16. Melinda Ademi [AI10 LVR] 17. Rachel Hale 18. Shubha Vedula 19. Tenna Torres [AI11 LVR] 20. Zoanette Johnson

You can see in the notations after each name if they participated in a previous season and how far they made it in the process. “HW” stands for Hollywood Week and “LVR” stands for Las Vegas Round. Spoilers from Americanidolnet.com.

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