SEMI-FINALS! Top 3 Performances

Wow... this season really has flown by. I guess it hit me as there were only three contestants walking on to the stage last night. It seems like just yesterday that we were covering our ears from Tatiana's laughter... or laughing at the ridiculous Normund Gentle. But those memories are behind us and its time for the TOP THREE!

So a few general feelings about this episode:

-Every other top 3 show the contestants have always performed three songs. This season they really are changing things up with the four judges and not having enough time... so I'm sure this is why they only did two songs. Kinda makes me sad though because I really liked hearing more songs from the contestants and we've been cheated. PLUS... the more songs they sing, the more singles they can release to iTunes... so they are losing out on money!
-They didn't let us see very much of the contestants when they went home!!! I hope they are saving this footage for tonight... but it made me sad because I really like to watch that stuff. It really brings the whole rise to stardom thing into perspective.

OK... on to this weeks performances.

Danny Gokey- "Dance Little Sister" (Paula's Choice)
OK.... don't know if I missed this song when it originally came out, but I certainly didn't know it and I don't think that many other people did either. I think that pick could really hurt him tonight. You have to be able to connect with your audience and its really hard to connect on a song that no one has heard of. And that sax solo in the middle was awkward. If you want to see a good instrument solo in the middle of an Idol performance, watch Blake Lewis's "You Give Love A Bad Name".... now THAT was a good solo choice! In terms of Danny's singing, I think Danny did well. He's good at what he does... and it fit his vocal tone. Very Michael MacDonald-ish. If Danny has a career after this, it will be on adult contemporary radio singing Michael MacDonald like songs. He's not exciting enough to actually have a long standing career in pop music. I think the judges comments were a little inflated. It wasn't that awe-inspiring. I'm glad that Kara was real when she said "are we going to remember that performance tomorrow?" I think not.

Kris Allen- "Apologize" (Randy & Kara's Choice)
When I heard this song choice, I thought FANTASTIC! You could tell Kris thought so too when he read the text message. Great song... fits what Kris will probably do if he gets an album. I really think Kris did well with this performance. He did change it up a little bit here and there instead of being a completely karaoke performance. Did he make it completely Kris Allen? No. Not like other songs like "Ain't No Sunshine"... but he still did well. What crack was Paula smoking tonight when she said that he had one "bum note"? I certainly didn't hear it. I'm thinking maybe Paula just doesn't know the song and one of the odd notes caught her off guard. I do have to say that what Simon said to Kara has to rank up there with one of my favorite quotes of this whole season: "You can't choose a song for him and then blame him for doing the song". VERY TRUE! I think Kris did well with this... BUT... it wasn't "outta the park". Hopefully song two will be.

Adam Lambert- "One" (Simon's Choice)
In my opinion "One" is one of the best songs ever written. Powerful in both lyric and songwriting. The original by U2 if fantastic... the remake with U2 AND Mary J Blige is even more fantastic. I love that Simon said he personally called Bono to ask permission! :-) When I heard that Simon picked this for Adam, I was thrilled. It was a song that Adam could take and really have "a moment" with. Do I think he had "a moment"? Not to the extent I hoped. Not to the extent of a Carrie Underwood "Alone" or a David Cook "Billie Jean". There were fantastic notes and great phrasing... but I think he almost changed it up too much this time around. It also seemed rushed to me. "One" is a song where the original is easily 5 minutes or more so I think cutting it down to a minute and a half really compromised the greatness of the song. I am excited to hear the full iTunes version of the song though. OK... and Kara... there have been rumors that you may not be around for next season... and you making smartass comments to Simon is not going to help your cause any. Saying "I guess your theory maybe wasn't proven"... that was just plain stupid because it had NOTHING to do with Simon's point about your song choice for Kris. Kara is quickly becoming the queen of bad math AND stupid comments! But... back to Adam.... Compared to the others, Adam wins round one hands down... but I really wanted a bit more at this point.


ROUND TWO! Contestant's Choice!

Danny Gokey- "You Are So Beautiful"
Are you serious Danny? Out of all the songs you could have chosen you choose this sappy crap? BOO! Any credit that I gave you in the first review (which wasn't much) I take back. This was a boring, sappy choice if you ask me. And Joe Cocker? PREDICTABLE! So I'm back on the anti-Danny train. Surprise Surprise! That being said... I had my "WTF? Moment Of The Week" with the judges comments! They all prasied him like a musical god for this performance! I guarantee you that if you would have given this song to Kris OR Adam that they would have given a better performance of it. It really isn't that hard of a song to sing really. Simon's comment about it being a "vocal masterclass?" Kara calling it "stunning"? Paula saying it was "magic"?" I didn't get any of that. BORING, EASY and PREDICTABLE is what I could call it.

Kris Allen- "Heartless"
What a refreshment after Danny's ball of crap!!! Kris picked a song that NO ONE could have predicted! Who would have ever expected Kanye West? Not me... thats for sure. As soon as he said that was his choice, it got me excited. Excited to see what he would do with it and how it would change it up. To me... this performance was Kris's "moment". It was what he needed. It makes him current. It makes him relevant. It proves his creativity. It proves his talent. I would buy this on iTunes (in fact... I will tonight when it is released). What I like even more about this performance is that it was just Kris and his guitar! At this point in the competition it really showcased that he is a credible artist. Kris doesn't need the whole she-bang from the band and accompaniment. There are artists today that make millions and could NEVER do that! (ahem... Britney... *cough*... Kanye...) I'm glad that Randy said it was better than the original! It was! If this doesn't get Kris into the final... I'm not sure what would have.

Adam Lambert- "Cryin'"
This song choice was interesting to me. We know that Adam excels at rock songs, but after Rock Week last week, I personally would have liked to see something different from him. BUT... to Adam's credit... he could really afford to play it safe this week. If he would have picked a song that WASN'T rock... taking a chance on something different... it may have backfired on him. With it being final three, and coming in as the clear favorite, he didn't need to do anything more than he did. Did I love the performance? Not really actually. I liked it... but I think my standards and expectations for Adam are so high that I want to be blown away. ALSO... I was TOTALLY distracted by the over powering backup vocalist. Did anyone else notice this?!?! She was WAY too loud... they needed to adjust those levels... or just not have backup at all. Adam can handle it on his own. I was SOOOO glad that Simon made his comment about not assuming Adam is safe tonight... because he DOES deserve to be in the final, and people need to make sure they vote. I know I tried to vote but it was busy constantly.

This week's ranking:
1. Kris Allen
2. Adam Lambert
3. Danny Gokey

That ranking probably surprised you... but Kris really blew me away with the Heartless performance, and I really am rooting for him to make the finals. I also tried voting for Kris but his line was also constantly busy. Hopefully that means he will make it through. We'll see.

Who's going home: There is SOOOO much pressure for this pick! My record so far is FLAWLESS! With these three it is possible that any of them could be there in the final two... unlike past years (last year you knew Syesha wasn't going to beat out either of the David's... and Season 3 you knew that Jasmine wasn't going to beat out Fantasia or Diana). I would like to think Adam is a shoe in... so is going to be Adam and Danny or Adam and Kris. Personally, I really hope its Adam and Kris. Kris has made this competition exciting. He has changed up songs and kept us on our toes. Danny has been boring and hasn't broken out of his little confortable box. Also... I don't want to be rude, but let's be real about this situation (as we should be real in the final three): Would Danny have been as appealing to the general public if he first wasn't introduced to us with the story about his wife? That immediately drew us to him. Kris on the other hand didn't have that backstory and wasn't even featured at all in the preview/audition weeks. He had to work for all the credit and fan-dom that he has in this competition... and he worked hard. He deserves it.

I hope America agrees with me.

For this reasoning... my prediction is that Danny will go home this week. Please let me be right!