Candice Glover wins American Idol Season 12

Candice Glover bets out to success and wins American Idol Season 12.
Image credit: Billboard.com

She wooed America with the sweet, soulful melody that belts out each time she sings. And there’s no wonder that the magic of her voice made her the ultimately winner of American Idol’s Season 12. And what’s special about Candice Glover is that she is the first-ever female Idol since 2007.

There’s no question that American Idol has endured its all-time ratings low this season, and while the epic Nicki Minaj-Mariah Carey feud topped Hollywood news recently, that wasn’t enough to boost the show’s ratings. In an effort to salvage one of the longest-running talent search in American TV, expect next season to be a little different, including a new set of judges. Everyone has to go, including Randy Jackson.

But enough with the sad reminiscences. After all the lows, we rejoice with Candice Glover’s win.

Glover, 23, bested out country music singer Kree Harrison.

And when Ryan Seacrest announced that she is “officially our American idol," before more than 7,000 people tucked the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles cheered, Glover can’t help her tears flow from her eyes.

“Oh, my God,” she quipped. “Three years.”

Yep. She waited for three years, and the third around, she got lucky.

"Three years, persistence, determination and a lot of talent. You deserve it," said Seacrest.

ABC News reports:

“Glover's win marks the first time a female and a nonwhite singer has won the competition since Jordin Sparks dominated the sixth season in 2007.” 

For five consecutive years, since Sparks, the champs were all male, namely Phillip Phillips, Scotty McCreery, Lee DeWyze, Kris Allen and David Cook. They’re all white and they all play guitar. But the “guys with guitars” craze didn’t work so well this year. After all, it’s two ladies, each with powerful voices that fought the pound-for-pound championship.

ABC further notes:

“The lack of a female champion for the past five years was mocked in a finale bit featuring the female finalists, in cahoots with Sparks, jokingly sabotaging this season's five male contestants.”

The conclusion of Season 12 is pretty emotional with Randy Jackson’s departure. Jackson is the only remaining original judge since the show debuted in 2002. Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul departed the show in 2010.

The two-hour finale featured some of the finest performers in the industry, including former winners and the show’s two judges, country crooner Keith Urbans and pop icon Mariah Carey.

Billboard.com observes Keith Urban's performances a summary of his career:

“The first-year judge debuted new single "Little Bit of Everything," a laid-back country tune in the vein of some of his best material, and performed "Where The Blacktop Ends," off his 1999 self-titled debut album, with Harrison supplying additional vocals, fellow judge Randy Jackson on bass and drummer Travis Barker of blink-182.”

Mariah Carey, meanwhile, performed a shortened version of some of her signature songs, including "We Belong Together," "Hero" and her latest single, "#Beautiful," although the performance did not included co-star Miguel.

Korean singer PSY also debuted on the "Idol" stage. In fact, his performance was hailed as the evening’s most energetic, featuring his latest single "Gentleman," all made more exciting with the hilarious dance moves.

Former judge Jennifer Lopez also came back to "Idol" to perform her newest single, "Live It Up," featuring Pitbull. Rumor has it that she might return on the judges' panel next season, although no formal announcement has been made until now.