American Idol "Top" Three Perform

I never updated last week. The results just proved who does the bulk of the voting in this competition: heterosexual teenage girls. Why else would two not-especially-talented males still be in the competition, when one of the two most talented performers in this year's competition was sent home? My long-term choice for second place, Allison Iraheta, who FAR outperformed both Danny Gokey (ESPECIALLY Danny Gokey) and Kris Allen, was sent home. I always get caught up in American Idol, and they always send somebody talented home too early. Tamyra Gray came in fourth during the first season; I'd chosen her to win. And while Kelly Clarkson has proved she deserved the title, I still think Tamyra was cheated. (Interesting aside: I watched Rachel Getting Married recently, and Tamyra had a bit part as a singer.) And there was the season I didn't watch because IMHO most of the singers sucked; that season Chris Daughtry was sent home in fourth place. He has proven himself to be the best performer of that season. How did Taylor Hicks ever win? He hasn't had any success; the week he performed on the results night, I fast-forwarded through it. Boooring. Chris was the performer last week, by the way. I didn't fast-forward through him!

Anyway, with any luck, Allison will be a huge success without winning Idol. Sigh. It's depressing when superb talent isn't enough to get you through. The fuchsia hair probably didn't help.

So last night, the three men sang. There were at least two good performances, and no, they weren't both by Adam Lambert. Here's the way I see it:

Last night was the 300th episode of American Idol. (Obviously they count all those laugh-at-the-bad-performer tryout episodes.) The three men were asked to perform one song chosen by the judges, and one that they chose. The one who should have gone home last week, Danny Gokey, was up first. Paula had chosen "Dance, Little Sister" by Terence Trent D'Arby. Okay, I've heard of him, but I didn't recognize the song. And even if I had, I wouldn't have after Danny murdered it. What is this, disco week? According to Wikipedia, this song was released in 1987, so I guess it wasn't supposed to be disco, but that's the way it sounded to me. I suppose this song suited his style. He did a “duet” with the saxophonist; I thought it was cute. But as usual, Danny was off-key, and his interpretation was to shout the entire song. Not my cup of tea at all. But Randy liked it. Kara said that the dancing was "a little too gyrating" for her... She didn't think she'd remember the performance tomorrow. Paula thought he did a fantastic job. Simon wanted to "remind the two girls that this is actually a singing show, not that funny little dancing show, whatever it is, next door." (Michael Slezak said it was "Dancing With the Stars".) He agreed with Kara that the dancing was a bit "desperate". He didn't like the "toy" saxophone bit in the middle, but thought the singing was good. Are they all wearing some kind of selective filter over their ears that removes all the bad notes? Sheesh.

Kris Allen was up next. Randy and Kara chose “Apologize” by One Republic for him. "Big song, big range, big voice," Randy explained. Right. I'd at least heard this song before. Kris chose to start it at the piano. A poor choice; his playing simply isn't strong enough, and his singing couldn't pull him through. And as for that "big range" stuff? He squeaked the high notes painfully. Eventually, he chose to perform them at a lower range. Uh huh. Big voice, my ass. Randy, of course, must have been watching an imaginary performance; he thought this song showed who Kris could be in the future of the music business. Kara thought it was competent, but by now he's got to be doing better. "Take more chances." She thought he should have performed it with the guitar. Paula mentioned his "bum note" and then said "I'm proud of you." Typical. Simon thought it was a competent version of the original, but not quite as good.

Finally, it was time for Adam Lambert. Simon got to choose for him - think they've picked the winner already? Adam was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly this week, BTW. Anyway, Simon chose "One" by U2. He had to get permission from the band, and (name-dropping!) added that he'd had a phone call from Bono on Saturday giving him permission. Adam started it quietly, drawing out the raw emotion of the song, and I thought it was perfect for him. Then he went for the high, loud notes, twisting the melody. He's just so impressive, even when he hits the occasional off note (which he did). Randy said "Unbelievable vocals", but he didn't like when Adam went off the melody. At this point, Simon booed (Randy boos him every show, when they announce his name in the intro). Kara called him an "amazing strategist." He did his own version. "See what I mean, Simon?" she taunted, referring to their argument over Kris' performance earlier. Paula thought it was "One" brilliant song, "One" superb performance, and "One" American idol that she's looking at right now. Simon called it a brilliant song choice (he made it, of course), and a brilliant performance.

The second half of the show, the alleged top three performed the songs they'd chosen for themselves. Danny Gokey had chosen "You Are So Beautiful", by Joe Cocker. He gave a very slow and tender performance. His husky voice worked well with the sentiment, but I thought the huskiness overshadowed the melody in some places. Randy liked it. "Mad vocals, dude." Kara thought it was stunning. Paula said he left all of them breathless. Simon didn't think the song needed rearranging, but he thought the singing was good.

Kris Allen chose "Heartless" by Kanye West. I think Kanye West confuses himself with God, and I didn't expect to like it. But I did. Kris accompanied himself on the guitar, and that was the only accompaniment. And it worked. This was the first Kris Allen performance I plan to download. His voice sounded good, and the song suited his style. Randy thought this would be one of the toughest voting nights ever. He thinks Kris did it even better than the Fray or Kanye West. (The Fray covered it?) Kara wished he'd done this (used just the guitar) with the first song. Bold, brave and fearless. She loved it. Paula said "You know, you are the bravest artist because you sang a song that's about Simon Cowell." She loved it. Simon thought the first song choice was lame, and he'd mentally written Kris out. But that's all changed after that performance. I agree. Since Allison can't be there, I'd prefer him to Danny in the Top Two.

Adam Lambert chose "Crying" by Aerosmith. It's all Adam, high notes, emotional performance, over the top as usual. Not my favorite performance of his, though. Randy said "You're one of the best we've ever had on this stage." He thinks Adam should be a rock star. Kara asked "How do you hit these notes and still talk the next day?" Paula thinks Adam set the bar very high. Simon said he wasn't going to "suck up", because it's easy to assume that Adam will sail through to the finals. He wanted everybody to vote for him because he deserves to be there.

And we tried. My son and I tried to vote for Adam for about an hour, but we couldn't get through. I suppose that's a positive sign...

Anyway, if there's any rightness left in this competition and it isn't all being rigged by the producers, Kris Allen should join Adam Lambert in the finals.