American Idol Season 8 - Week 10

And then, there were 3. As upset as I was that Allison Iraheta was voted off last week instead of Kris, I can honestly say that the 3 remaining Idol hopefuls are all good in their own way. Danny has a distinctive, soulful voice. Kris has pulled off some of my favorite performances of the year. And Adam? Well, as I've said all year, he's definitely entertaining, regardless of how you view his singing (I think he goes overboard too often, and he's starting to get on my nerves, but I still enjoy seeing what he comes up with).

So onto tonight's show. Each contestant will sing two songs - one chosen by the judges, and one personal choice. First up is Danny Gokey, who by the way, is the choice of Vote For The Worst.com - really? C'mon...I disagree - they called him cheesy and compared him to Taylor Freakin' Hicks! No way...he's way better than the Silver Fox. Of course, I should probably disclose here that I was a big Katherine McPhee fan, so I was voting against Hicks.

Paula has chosen "Dance Little Sister" by Terrence Trent D'Arby as Danny's song. I have that album and know the song, but when I first hear the choice, I immediately say, right artist, wrong song. I would have picked "Sign Your Name" instead (more on that later). So Danny comes out and sings himself a little TTD, and I think he does a very good job. The judges don't care for his dancing, which is at times very clumsy, but hello! It's a singing competition! One of the complaints against Danny is people don't know what kind of artist he'll be. I think he could be a Michael McDonald type, with a little Joe Cocker filled in for good measure (wow, that sounds like what they used to say about Taylor Hicks...er....nevermind). In other words, a white soul singer. I think the song ended up being a decent choice, but I still would have loved to hear him sing the more popular "Sign Your Name" (which is also a better song to begin with). I also liked the little bit of scatting that D-Goke pulled off there. At this point, nobody is really doing anything they haven't done already, so you have your favorites. Mine is Danny, so I'm rooting for the guy. Randy loved it - said it was "dope, dude". Kara said the singing was right in Danny's money spot, but the dancing was distracting. Paula thought Danny's dancing was really good, and loved his singing. Simon said the dancing was desperate - the vocals were quite good. He didn't like the sax during the middle of the song. And then Simon says exactly what I said earlier - he should have done "Sign Your Name".

Kris Allen's song is One Republic's "Apologize" - as someone who doesn't really listen to today's music, I don't know this song. At least I don't think I know this song. But after listening to it 3 times, it sounds familiar. The lengths I go through for this blog...anyway, Randy and Kara picked this one. Since I don't know the original that well, I don't know what to think. The vocal is competent, but I don't really get too excited about this. Kris sitting in front of the piano. Kinda boring. I just didn't feel it. Randy thought this was exactly the type of song Kris should be performing - very nice, according to the Dawg. Kara said it was competent, but it could have been better. She wanted something that was unique - make it his own. Paula was proud of Kris, even though he hit a "bum note" that was quite loud, according to Paula's ears. Simon takes Kara to task for picking the song and then complaining about him doing the song. He said it was a competent version of the original, but not as good.

Season 8 winner Adam Lambert is up next, and Adam learns that he'll be singing U2's "One". Simon takes this opportunity to tell us that he personally contacted Bono and got permission. Adam comes out bathed in blue light, by himself. It starts out OK, pretty quiet actually. Once he picks up the microphone and starts walking, he shrieks in typical Adam fashion. I really don't like this at all. I know everyone will say what a powerful voice. But it's way too hysterical to be a good cover of this U2 classic (off of my favorite album of theirs, and one of my all time favorite albums, Achtung Baby). I didn't care for it, but I KNOW the judges will say it was the best version ever. Randy gushes over it - unbelievable vocals, although he did complain about Adam going off the melody. Kara said he did it his own way and made it unbelievable. Yeah, Kara, he can do that, but that doesn't make it good. Kara also does a horrible impression of Simon. Paula called it "one brilliant song, one superb performance, and one American Idol I'm staring at right now!" Simon said it was a brilliant song choice, and that Adam is brilliant. Brilliant. They all say he'll definitely be there in the finals, which means I hope he's not there. I'd love to see their faces next week (although again, I always look forward to what Adam is going to attempt...it's usually pretty entertaining).

Whew! Round two coming up. I'll keep these comments brief. Because I'm tired, and this keyboard sucks. So here goes.

Danny Gokey - sings "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker. I sound like a broken record, but whenever he sings a ballad, he starts out slow, and then builds it up to a strong middle and ending. I enjoyed it - it wasn't my favorite performance by him, but it was good and nicely done. Randy said he can really, really, really sing....mad vocals! Kara said it was stunning. Paula was left breathless. Simon called it a "vocal master class". Wow. I don't think Simon has ever given him that big of a compliment.

Kris Allen - sings "Heartless" by Kanye West. Apparently the Fray have also covered this. But I haven't heard either of these songs (again, I don't listen to the modern radio much). And even though I have never heard the original, I love this version. This is exactly why Kris deserves to be here in the final 3, and I wouldn't be upset if he is in the finals and boots Adam. He's definitely grown on me in the last 10 weeks, and I thought it was a great performance. Randy said it was the best performance of that song by anyone (including the original!). Kara said it was bold, brave and fearless. Perfect. Paula said he was brave to sing a song about Simon. She commended him - bravo. Simon said after the lame song choice for the first song, and written Kris off - but after this performance, that has changed.

Adam Lambert - sings "Cryin'" by Aerosmith. Didn't Kara mention this song last week, as a possible song for Danny? Maybe Adam heard that and decided to try to tackle. Because this is more of an uptempo song, I can accept some of the "off the rails" moments from Adam, but he takes it even further than he has in the past. I really don't know if I'm awe of that voice or scared of it! Wow. Just wow. It's not really my cup of tea, so as I said, I wouldn't be devastated if Adam gets booted this week. Especially after the gushing from the judges. Randy said Adam is one of the best contestants ever. Kara said it was amazing, and she'll see him in the finals. Paula said we'll see him next week. (ENOUGH ALREADY!!) Simon finally adds some common sense - he says everyone shouldn't assume Adam will be there...but then urges everyone to vote for Adam so he'll be there. Adam, as gracious as he is, said that he is honored to be in the final three with Danny and Kris. That was a classy, nice thing to say.

So I'm continuing to pull for Danny, and not just because he's my only hope for the office pool. I can picture hearing Danny in my dentist office, on a light rock station. I can see Kris being on the radio as well. Adam - well, he's a shoo in to have an album out. He's already on the cover of Entertainment Weekly - by himself.

I'm not going to predict the finale, but I thought everyone did a good job tonight. When you're in the final 3, you better be good! I did vote for Danny about a dozen or so times. Don't know if that helps or not, but at least I've got "Vote For The Worst" on my side (still can't believe that).

So we'll see what happens - I promise not to write a novel for the finale. At least, I'm not planning on it! ;^)