‘American Idol’ 2013 Recap: Top 4 Girl Finalists, Season 12 Contestants Perform, Candice Glover Steals Show, Two Weeks Left Until 'AI' Season 12 Finale

The Top 4 contestants on "American Idol" competed Wednesday night with just two weeks left until the Season 12 finale. And after last week's shocking news that the 38 million votes tallied would carry over into this week's totals, each contestant needed to put on a show-stopping performance.

And that's precisely what Candice Glover did on "Now & Then" night as she stole the show and earned the praise of the judges.

For the first performances of the evening ("Now"), in which the contestants had to sing a song that was released or charted in 2013, Candice moved the judges and fans with a soulful rendition of Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man." The performance was marred slightly by Nicki Minaj asking if Candice had lost weight, as if that has anything to do with her ability to sing. But it was a stark contrast to last week when the judges overly criticized Candice despite stellar performances.

Kree Harrison, who was in the top two last week, also gave a particularly stirring performance of Carrie Underwood's "See You Again," which earned her a heap of praise from judges.

Angie Miller, the other top two member from last week, performed a piano ballad version of Rihanna's "Diamonds" but the judges didn't go for it. Nicki called it "bland" and "lackluster" and insisted she could do better, and Randy Jackson spouted his famous "I didn't love it" critique.

Amber Holcomb sang Pink and Nate Ruess' duet "Just Give Me A Reason" and, after her appearance in the bottom two last week, did not do much to inspire confidence that she would advance to the final three. She had trouble remembering the words and Randy noted that she was incredibly nervous during the song.

For the "Then" performances, the girls sang an older, standard song. Candice again blew away the competition with a flawless performance of "You've Changed," released in 1941. Mariah Carey simply stated. "There is no critique."

Kree's performance of "Stormy Weather" unfortunately got lost in the judges' pouncing on guest mentor Harry Connick Jr. He advised Kree to go with Lena Horne's version of the song rather than Etta James' rendition, advice with which the judges did not agree. The argument degenerated to the point of Harry yelling, "Randy! Stop! Stop!" as the two went at it.

Angie's "Someone to Watch Over Me" fell somewhat short. Randy criticized the rather unnecessary and noisy backing band. Nicki also called her a "Disney princess" for whatever that's worth.

Amber performed "My Funny Valentine," just as she had done earlier in the season, and again did a solid job. Her father in the audience cried, Amber cried and the fans just might send enough votes her way to keep her alive after that performance.

But nothing is for certain with this week's results show because all of last week's 38 million votes will factor into Thursday's show, which could be one of the most intriguing in recent "American Idol" history.