Idol‘s Candice Glover on Rearranging Drake, Reading Internet Critiques and Learning From Harry Connick! Plus: A ‘Lovesong’ Deep Dive!
It’s something of an understatement to say that Candice Glover was ready for anything during her Season 12 run on American Idol.
After a brutal, unexplained cut during the Season 11 Vegas round, Candice returned home to St. Helena Island, SC, and listened to country, folk, blues and a lot of Taylor Swift on an effort to become a more well-rounded artist. In the process, she discovered an inner confidence that allowed her to face head-on a multitude of Internet message-board comments about her appearance and the judges’ failure to identify her as “commercial” or “the total package.”
Candice stopped by TVLine HQ to discuss this epiphany — and how it informed her epic rendition of “Don’t Make Me Over” as well as her coronation anthem “I Am Beautiful.”
Not only that, but we get deep dives into her rearrangements of Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up,” Drake’s “Find Your Love” and The Cure’s “Lovesong” — and find out more info on why she feared her Group Round “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!),” which early song choice she wishes she could take back, how she understood Randy, Nicki, Keith and Jimmy not putting her in their Top 3s on Top 7 results night and what she thought of Randy’s “church girl” critiques.
RELATED | American Idol: 30 Best Performances of All Time
So press play below for the TWO-PART Candice experience, and for all my Idol news, interviews, recaps and video, follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpVlrSxn8po
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sesj8I8juwI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jooy_R7Qlj8&feature=player_embedded
Candice Glover. <333
Candice you are gorgeous!!!
They tried to sabotage her with the mike stand and the “computer malfunction” and devil voice. But she won anyway!
THIS!
my future wife
She’s awesome. And the two of you nerding out and finishing each other’s sentences is adorable.
Love, love, love her! Personality training? What a bunch of idiots. Glad we’re rid of them – even Keith, even though I like him. I’d rather forget this judging panel existed entirely. Next.
PLEASE, BE EXCELLENT TO ONE ANOTHER.
Really great interview! I think it’s one of her best interviews to date. Candice has gotten a lot better at the interviews. I think it helps though that she’s Michaels’ fave, lol, he was totally invested in this interview.
This was a really interesting listen/watch? And I loved hearing her thoughts on the different song choices.
Agreed, Bernice! She was so animated in this one in comparison to the Candice on the show and in other interviews. Perhaps because she’s a Michael fan, she felt more comfortable with him. I wish he’d asked if she remembers how she felt when she’d finished her duet with Jennifer Hudson. The look on her face as they faced the audience was just priceless!
PLEASE, BE EXCELLENT TO ONE ANOTHER.
CANDICE dszgdfjuhgfyfhjutrbhtsehyumkhykdgyeraszwetawehydehygtjuikhukghfjnmhndtyjuyfjhgdutyiyutdhyutdhugftykifyugkfyugjkfhyuhjfjksrthyudtytd ghtrdshytdhtrfsgyeragtegythfjghjkhuiugiyiiugyiy
You drunk, Jacob?
Maybe a little bit ;)
Easy for you to say.
Candi!!!
Been waiting for this for SO long. Love this girl! Can’t wait for her album!
This recent development of canceled shows has further fanned speculations that the once most-popular TV franchise is indeed struggling, with tickets to the tour probably not selling so well which may have caused the tour to be cut down. If it’s any indication, current champion Candice Glover’s and runner-up Kree Harrison’s singles have both tanked, the lowest-selling singles ever of any “Idol” winner or top two finalists, preceded by the continued downward spiraling of the show’s ratings.
“American Idol Live!” 2013 Tour canceled shows:
June 29 – St. Louis, MO (Chaifetz Arena)
June 30 – Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center)
July 02 – Minneapolis, MN (Target Center)
July 05 – Detroit, IL (Joe Louis Arena)
July 06 – Rosemont, IL (Allstate Arena)
July 08 – Tulsa, OK (BOK Center)
July 10 – Broomfield, CO (1STBANK Center)
July 12 – Las Vegas, NV (Mandalay Bay Events Center)
July 13 – Ontario, CA (Citizens Business Bank Arena)
July 14 – Oakland, CA (The Oracle Arena)
No kidding the tour would fail, who would pay money to see that bunch of queens and nobodies perform? Its not struggling, its dying. You left out how Disney’s Idol experience has shrunk their commitment and revenue. In my mind, this is all fair. This season’s contestants do not deserve to reap the rewards of prior seasons as this one was a manipulated pile of BS that deserves to wallow in its own stink.
And since I still dont see an announcement of Lythgoe, Warwick, Frot-Coutaz, Chew and even light-dimmer Kiernan getting fired, the show is not going to get any better. Someone put it out of its misery and give Seacrest a new contract to make his own version of Idol. Not that he’d do any better, but he couldn’t possibly do any worse.
Why would Kieran need to get fired? His gig is below the line. Give the guy a break, he has nothing to do with Idol’s failure.
She’s awesome!
All the best to Candice. Why didn’t Kree or Angie get flowers! Too bias that Mikey is. Stop being a fanboy!
Ummm, because Candace was the Winner? And your name says all we need to know about you.
L O S E R …
He only give flowers to one contestant per season … Last year Skyler, season prior was Haley … and man I watch this stuff way too much …
Ha! :>
I think Season Seven’s flowers went to Carly Smithson. I don’t know what they were. They looked exotic. Season Eight’s flowers were red roses and were given to Allison Iraheta. Season Nine’s were sunflowers and were presented to Crystal Bowersox. Season Ten’s were for Haley; they were yellow roses. Skylar got a bouquet of white flowers.
Yes, Michael gives flowers to his favorite contestant. It’s his right to do so.
Thanks Mikey. Good interview, and good season of Idology.
Now start filming some Voice Goodies, please.
Candice, gregarious and on point! Question I have is why during the show did Candi, Kree&Angie have people show up for them on stage in earlier rounds but Amber didn’t. Mike? Anyone have any guesses.Maybe they were top 3 all along, had special people to amp up their standing and judges praised Amberto bolster her so she could continue…The producers way of telegraphing their top 3?
I think perhaps Candice and Kree personally inspired their artists so much that they probably asked to be there. Perhaps Angie just wasn’t that inspiring to the artists she covered. But didn’t Colton Dixon show up? Oh yeah. He was already booked. Conversely, nobody asked Candice or Kree to fly to England to sing their song at a concert either.
Oops. Sorry. Read over and my answer would be, Amber didn’t inspire much of anything in anybody.
I love Candice’s artistic style and her awesome personality. She’s a fabulous Idol winner!
She’s SO wonderful and talented! Love her!
^^^ i agree wholeheartedly! love me some candice! :-D ^^^
(and she sure is pretty, too…)
Yes, she is.
She’s so cool and down to earth! Amazing singer, amazing woman!
Here’s the sales figures via wetpaint site – on first week sales by the 12 winners of American Idol, on their single release right after the finale. First week only.
1) Ruben Studdard, “Flying Without Wings” – 286,000
2) Phillip Phillips, “Home” – 278,000
3) David Cook, “The Time of My Life” – 236,024
4) Kelly Clarkson, “A Moment Like This” – 236,000
5) Taylor Hicks, “Do I Make You Proud” – 190,147
6) Scotty McCreery, “I Love You This Big” – 171,404
7) Fantasia Barrino, “I Believe” – 142,141
8) Kris Allen, “No Boundaries” – 134,458
9) Carrie Underwood, “Inside Your Heaven” – 131,504
10) Lee Dewyze, “Beautiful Day” – 95,000
11) Jordin Sparks, “This Is My Now” – 74,303
12) Candice Glover, “I Am Beautiful” – 54,000
Yeah, but P2’s Home has made more money than almost all the rest combined since release, and that was just last year.
Oh stop with this. Between you and the Idol Sucks killjoy.
Let me put it this way – getting all hyped-up about the sales of the Winner’s First Single and speculating that it has ANY bearing on future success, is like observing a recent graduate of the Berkley College of Music as he begins his career in the theaters of New York City, then publicly blogging, “He got two Cs in his 3rd Quarter before graduating so CLEARLY, his future is limited and/or doomed.”
It’s just but the first stepping stone in what is the rest of their lives/careers – if they so choose and devote themselves. :-)
Yeah, Ruben at 1st and Carrie and 9th is pretty much ’nuff said.
What you have to look at are sales to date,Rubin was first and Carrie ninth,but where is Rubin today,some people like Rubin and Candice should,take us to church,that where they started.and maybe God was sending them a message.
and what would this chart be like if the winners were able to record and release and publicise kick-ass singles they wrote or personally chose instead of being force-fed second-rate generic songs written by committee and Idol’s producers?
Nobody can expect tremendous sales of these mostly schmaltzy songs that no mainstream DJ would even think about playing. It’s all up to iTunes these days. I think it’s the first album sales that really count. Do you have any figures on that?
Single – debut/total
Kelly – 236,000/1,223,000
Ruben – 286,000/790,000
Fantasia – 142,141/559,000
Carrie – 170,528/880,000
Taylor – 228,418/709,000
Jordin – 74,303/334,000
David C – 236,024/1,463,000
Kris – 134,458/343,000
Lee – 95,000/186,000
Scotty – 171,404/851,000
Phillip – 278,000/4,512 677
Candice – 48,291/71,191
Album – debut/total
Kelly – 297,000/2,772,000
Ruben – 416,569/1,792,000
Fantasia – 239,389/1,839,000
Carrie – 314,549/7,320,000
Taylor – 298,199/705,000
Jordin – 119,119/1,045,000
David C – 280,000/1,325,000
Kris – 80,000/346,000
Lee – 39,000/151,000
Scotty – 196,739/1,166,000
Phillip – 169,158/885,231
The way she explained what “Don’t Make Me Over” meant to her made me like the performance even more than I already did.
Glad to hear how intelligent Candice is. She is willing to tackle any style, listen to constructive criticism, stay true to herself and still work really hard. This girl has “It”
and will be with us for a very long time. I still think she is the most talented American
Idol ever. What a fantastic career she will have.
Wow. What a real, clever, beautiful woman. A queen worthy of the title. I just have a bad feeling the popular music industry is not going to appreciate that voice. As of now the Manchester tour show is still on, and I know she’s gonna bring. That. Arena. Down!
Dear Miss LeahKitty,
`
Good to hear from you again!! I agree with you completely. Candice was “pumped” for this interview. And in it, she displayed that she’s smart, down to earth, and truly beautiful! Between that extraordinarily gorgeous voice of hers and how she knows “just” how to use it, it becomes an exquisite gem she bestows to those of us intelligent enough to listen — and, thus relish. She really is quite the “package.”
I suspect that she will have a hard battle in today’s pop “music” scene, particularly since it’s become as “non-musical” (sorry, having to rely on auto-tune is not a sign of musicality), and otherwise, stupid as it’s become. But, hopefully, music, i.e. “real music” might find it’s way back. — and soon.
And there are several former AI folks (besides Candice, there’s at least Haley (Reinhart) and Elise Testone, just to name a few) who are there to lead the vanguard for a better and new direction.
That is my hope. My hopes are rarely ever realized but that is my hope.
OTOH, at the beginning of the season, I had hopes for Candice making it to top 3. I was quite certain, no matter how good she was — or, perhaps, because she was so good — that she’d never go beyond the 3rd spot. (I didn’t start paying attention to AI until hearing Crystal and Lee sing “Falling Slowly.” In the following 2 seasons, my favorites [Haley, Joshua] left in 3rd place.) There are times when I like being wrong — and, this time, I was thrilled at being wrong.
Oh my goodness, My Alter Ego, you won’t believe this. Just before I read your comment I was watching “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” on YouTube, and you wording was so articulate and sophisticated that I read it in Rarity’s voice. ROTFLOL What a way to spend a Sunday. I like that you have hope for “real music” and am starting to see it come back, so let’s hope Candice gets the success she deserves.
P.S. My very favorite Idol alumni (not counting this season since they haven’t released original material yet) are Kelly, Carrie, Daughtry, Jordin, David Cook, Kris, Adam, and Phillip.)
I would not get so concerned about the short term careers of Candice and Kree. JHud didn’t leave Idol and magically become an overnight success. Katherine McPhee took years to land SMASH. This girl is so smart and talented. Her market may not be US based at all. It may be more international especially if she stays in the jazzy realm.
Regardless it was nice to learn that this site has such a strong influence with the contestants. Just keep reading and posting guys. We’re being heard.
Good points, NTT. I’ve appreciated your observations and insights this Idol season, and thank you for the message above.
Candice – This was a FABULOUS interview! I’m so incredibly proud of you. I love the smooth, buttery tones in your voice and I, too, was outraged when only one judge had you in their top 3. I was visiting family and I started screaming at the television set! Since last year’s unfair cut, you were my choice to win it all and I am so glad you have. Keep on shining! You’re beautiful inside and out!
This was my first season watching Idology and it was fantastic. I loved all the recaps and interviews. Candice is really a strong woman to read all that crap on the Internet and still sing like an angel. She is truly amazing and will have a long and wonderful career. I wish all the AI contestants who performed this season continued success.
TV Line is my favorite review site, too. If American Idol goes off the air in a year or two, at least it had Candice, who is probably the best singer ever on this show. Kelly Clarkson being second. Joshua Ledet being third.
Great interview Michael! Love Candice and I think she is even more beautiful in this video than she was on the show. I have already prepurchased her album and can’t wait for it to be finished. Just because radio is too narrow to play her song it does not mean she is any less talented than the other winners. Shame on them. I hope they come to their senses soon.
Candice really did look great in that interview. When her eyes are done, she has a lovely sultry look, and I love the new hair.
Great interview but sad that Idology is over for another year. Thanks for such an entertaining season. I have a request – can we please get a behind the scenes look at Idology? For example, have someone to interview Michael, Melinda and Jason on what it’s like to film it each week? And what it’s like to interview contestants, some that weren’t given great reviews in the recaps?
Great idea!
And THANKS MICHAEL (and Melinda!) for another FANTASTIC year of Idology. You guys are the BEST part of Idol; in fact, Uncle Nig should give you a %/$! In addition to the great girls this year – you guys are what keeps things current, fun, and engaging!
Great to know Candice is a much of an Idology fan as the rest of us. ;) Fantastic interview. What a smart, funny and talent young woman. I can’t wait for the album and for Candi to prove all the nay-sayers wrong. Could we possibly get a duet with Jessica on there? Think of the marketability, 19! (And the TALENT!)
First time in so long that my favorite won this silly show!
Candice is beautiful!