CANDICE GLOVER

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The third time has been the charm for Candice Glover.

She made it past the first round of American Idol auditions in Season 9 and Season 11, but didn’t make it to the semifinals. This season, her slow, burning, powerful version of The Cure’s Lovesong was called the greatest performance ever on the show by judge Randy Jackson, who has been there since the beginning.

“I’m definitely proof dreams come true,” Glover said when she returned last weekend to her hometown of St. Helena Island, S.C. “No matter how many times you get a ‘No,’ you keep trying to get a ‘Yes.’ ”

Glover started singing and performing at Oaks True Holiness Church at age four. She got her first standing ovation there when she was eight, and was hooked on entertaining.

Glover first auditioned for Idol in 2009, making it to the final 70 contestants. She made the top 60 in 2011 before bowing out. But she wasn’t on TV either time.

After last season’s nearmiss, Glover said she took time to assess her strengths and weaknesses as a performer. She never had a vocal coach, and she credits what she did with herself — not the turnover in three of the show’s four judges — with her success.

“It’s the change in me, not the judges. It’s the fact I worked really hard and prepared myself, compared to before,” Glover said.