Candice Rickelle Glover (born November 22, 1989) is an American R&B singer and actress who won the twelfth season of American Idol.[1] Glover is the first winner to have auditioned three times before being cast for the live shows. Her debut album Music Speaks was released on February 18, 2014.[2]
Glover auditioned in Charlotte, North Carolina.[6] She previously auditioned in the ninth and eleventh seasons. In the ninth season Simon Cowell said that he could not see Glover being anything more than a lounge singer and she was cut during the final 70 round. She was eliminated by producers during the ninth season when she forgot the lyrics to her song "Chasing Pavements" by Adele.
During her audition for the twelfth season, Glover sang "Syrup & Honey" by Duffy, where she received a standing ovation. Judge Randy Jackson said that she was the best performer by far in the competition. Mariah Carey called her singing "The best singing we have heard thus far." Glover advanced to Hollywood. In an interview, she said, "I thought they were going to get sick of seeing my face." For the first round in Hollywood, she sang "Impossible" by Christina Aguilera. For the second round, she performed "Hit Em Up Style" with Kamaria Ousley, Denise Jackson, and Melinda Ademi. This was named the best group the judges had seen all day. In round three, she put a jazzy twist on Alicia Keys's "Girl on Fire". It was later announced that Glover was one of the top 20 girls of the season and she advanced to Las Vegas. In Vegas, she performed "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin. In the semi-finals of the competition, Glover performed "Ordinary People" by John Legend. On March 7, 2013, she was voted into the Top 10.[1] Her Top 10 performance of "I (Who Have Nothing)" by Ben E. King earned her enough votes to land among the night's top three contestants, along with Kree Harrison and Angie Miller.[7] After her Top 6 performances, Glover earned enough votes to land in the night's top two contestants, along with Kree Harrison. She covered "Lovesong" by The Cure and broke down in tears after receiving a standing ovation. For the first time, after her Top 4 performance, she landed in the bottom two. On May 16, Glover won the contest and her debut single 'I Am Beautiful' was released to music store outlets.
Performances and results
Season 9
Episode
Theme
Song choice
Original artist
Order #
Result
Audition
Auditioner's Choice
Not aired
N/A
Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 1
A capella
Not aired
N/A
Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 2
Group Performance
"Superwoman" with Shelby Dressel, Kelsey Laverack Rey, and Audri Vargas
^Note 1 When Ryan Seacrest announced the results for this particular night, Glover was in the bottom two with Amber Holcomb, but was declared safe as no one was eliminated.
^Note 2 Due to the surprise non-elimination at the top 4, the top 4 remained intact for another week.
Music Speaks and upcoming second studio album
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Glover singing The Star-Spangled Banner at Citi Field in 2013
Immediately following the finale broadcast on May 16, 2013, Glover's debut album, Music Speaks, along with her debut single "I Am Beautiful" was available for pre-order; this was a first for the Idol series.[8] On May 17, 2013, Glover performed the single on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[9] On May 20, 2013, Glover performed on Live! with Kelly and Michael.[10]
Glover confirmed on May 21, to be working on a more R&B influenced second single to be released.[11]
In its first week "I Am Beautiful" reached number 33 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 93 on the BillboardHot 100.[12]
Glover took part in the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2013, beginning on July 19 and ending on August 31, 2013. Her debut album Music Speaks was released on February 18, 2014, after being pushed back from the original July 16 and October 8, 2013, dates.[13]
Glover's second single from her debut album is called "Cried," and was released on November 25, 2013. "Cried" debuted at number 28 on the Billboard Adult R&B chart in January 2014,[14] and has peaked at number 18.
Glover has begun work on her second studio album, due out in 2016.[15] She is writing all of the material on the album herself. She announced on her Facebook page that the album will be more "her" and that there will be a duet with fellow Idol contestant Amber Holcomb.[16]
Glover was also featured on Chadd Black's single, "Love No Fear", which was released on February 14, 2015.[15] She will be releasing a mixtape with Black sometime in 2016.[17] In January 2016, she announced that she had parted ways with 19 Recordings/Interscope. Her new album will be released independently, and she hopes to work with Jazmine Sullivan, Chris Brown, and/or Drake on it.[18]
She returned to Idol for the series finale on April 7, 2016. She performed with all the returning alumni to open the show, singing "One Voice." Later, she performed "Joy to the World" with Melinda Doolittle.
Broadway
Glover sang on Broadway in the show Home For the Holidays, Live on Broadway from November 17 to December 30, 2017, at the August Wilson Theatre.[19]
Personal life
Glover says she wants to be a counselor to help girls through what she went through as a teenager. Nicki Minaj broke down in tears after Glover's performance of "Next to Me", saying that Glover has gotten so much more confident during her time on the show. Glover said she would never wear a dress on Idol, but she eventually wore one during her performance of "Somewhere," "You've Changed" by Billie Holiday and the finale. After this, girls began tweeting her saying she was their inspiration and that she made them feel more confident. Her musical influences include Christina Aguilera, Jazmine Sullivan and Brandy.[20] In 2011, Sullivan retweeted Glover's YouTube cover of "Chasing Pavements" by Adele and called it "amazing". Glover once again performed this song on the finale of American Idol.