American Idol Season 8Top 3 Results Show

Going to the Finale:
Adam Lambert
Kris Allen

Eliminated:
Danny Gokey

There you have it folks. Who would have predicted this just a week ago? We'd wager not even Kris Allen, who seems the person most surprised in the universe by his ascension to the finale. Regrets? We have a few. Though we disliked what appeared to be a veneer of arrogance on Danny Gokey, his amazing blue-eyed soul voice can't be denied. We teared up listening to him repeat his great rendition of "You Are So Beautiful." And, in truth, he was the most consistent of all three finalists Tuesday night. Many we spoke to felt his rendition of the Joe Cocker classic was the highlight of the evening, and he did a good job on Terence Trent D'Arby's "Dance Little Sister," as well.

Who'll ever be able to figure out why Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are singing next week instead of Danny? Adam's been a juggernaut all season, but failed to have a moment on Tuesday. Though the judges praised him lavishly, we didn't speak with one person who liked his screechy version of U2's "One." All said if he had continued singing the song in his low range, he might have been amazing. And Aerosmith's "Cryin'" was just same-old same-old Adam.

As for Kris, his performance of OneRepublic's "Apologize" was at times pitchy and at best mediocre. It paled next to David Archuleta's finale version in '08. What shined though was his "Heartless" (Kayne West). Like us, most people we spoke with thought "Oh, no!" when they heard what he was planning to sing. But from great risk comes great reward. Kris turned those "Oh, nos" into votes of affirmation and a ticket to tomorrow. Let's not underestimate his impact next week either. He could keep this upset going all the way to the win.

The show opens with a shameless and long "comedy" sketch promotion with Ben Stiller and other cast members from 20th-Century Fox's "Night at the Museum" sequel, which opens Friday. It has nothing to do with "Idol" and everything to do with making money. When the show really begins, Ryan Seacret tells us there were more than 88 million votes, but the Top 2 contestants were only about 1 million votes apart. Yikes! The show is going to be filler, filler, filler until the final five minutes. The wait will be long and tedious. There is no "group" song, but, of course, the sponsors have to be represented. Set to Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride," the Ford commercial, whose quality has degenerated during the season, features Danny, Adam and Kris briefly becoming animated superheroes. The song is OK, the animation looks quickly and cheesily done.

(Note: some of the videos are not loading the first time, but they are there. If they don't come on, reload the screen)

Watch video of Ford commercial to "Break My Stride"

And because the producers suddenly want to appear charitable -- but not enough to stage "Idol Gives Back" -- we have another mini give-us-money appeal. Alicia Keys appears to rep "Keep a Child Alive." To emphasize its importance, she brings on Noah Mushimiyimana, a Rwandan kid who wants to be singer. Keys tells us he has learned his song in English in just one week. Though Noah is filled with joy onstage, the song is barely tolerable. About one in four words can be understood and Noah's voice is drowned out by the chorus singing behind him. At least he dances better than Megan Joy did. It's nice that Noah got to come to the United States, but a video explaining the charity's work would have had more impact raising money.

Watch video of Alicia Keys charity appeal

It's time for footage from the three finalists homecomings this past Friday. First up is Danny Gokey's return to Milwaukee, which he says is bittersweet homecoming after what has transpired over the past 10 months, going from tragedy to triumph. Little girls scream, big girls scream. They make the heart sign with their hands. They're gaga for Gokey. Danny reunites with his buddy Jamar, who made it to Hollywood, but not to the semis. Danny tears up during his parade.

Watch video of Danny Gokey's homecoming

Next, it's Kris Allen's turn to return to Conway, Ark. Though he says he's a little nervous he is met by huge crowds everywhere, but a lot more kids for Kris than Danny. Must be that puppy-dog smile, which gets almost goofy looking he's so happy. He goes to visit his parents at their home. His family is almost as huge as the crowds. There's a tearjerker moment as he and his dad hug forevah and his dad tells him how much he loves him and how proud he is of Kris. We dare you not to cry watching it. The video segues beautifully from this to Kris singing "Falling Slowly." Scenes of Kris and his wife in the parade car, more family crying, Kris thanking the crowd for changing his life. Sweet.

Watch video of Kris Allen homecoming

OK, it's time to take a breather and cool down the emotions. Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks is here to sing her latest single, "Battlefield," accompanied on piano by the song's co-writer, OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder. The song is good, not great. It gets better as it goes along. Jordin looks sensational and so much older since her victory. She's a real woman now. Love the dress, love the highlights in her hair.



Watch video of Jordin Sparks singing "Battlefield" accompanied by Ryan Tedder

Adam Lambert returns to his hometown, San Diego. He looks so much better without all that pancake stage makeup he's always wearing. He normal skin tone is actually not ruddy like it shows up on TV. He goes to the local morning news show, where the correspondent meeting him is more hysterical than the girls/women in the crowd. Than lame weathergirl is equally groupie-ish and asks Adam to put eyeliner on her the way he does it. Do they really think they can convince him to switch teams? Heh. Adam is a natural with the newspeople. He was born for this. He visits the Met theater group at the Power Performing Arts Center where he first started acting as a child and chats with the kids, some very young. More crowds and a female streaker takes off her blouse and tries to jump on the stage. She, also, apparently hasn't gotten the Adam memo. Adam cracks up and tells her, "You rock."

Watch video of Adam Lambert's homecoming

There's still time for another musical number before the results. It's Katy Perry singing "Waiting in Vegas," with a very Vegas-y troupe with her. On the back of Katy's white cape it says "Adam Lambert." Hmmm, wonder who she's rooting for? It's a good number. Paula Abdul's really into it, but then she's into everything. Nuff said. We like you Katy, but get off the stage, we're dying to hear the results.

Watch video of Katy Perry singing "Waiting in Vegas"

FINALLY! It's 3 minutes to 10 and Ryan Seacrest tells us it's time for the results. Ryan reveals the first person competing in the finale is ... Kris! There is shocked delight on his face, but not as shocked as last week. Simon looks a bit surprised but not necessarily upset. Paula looks stunned, her mouth hanging open. Kara DioGuardi says "Oh my god," Randy Jackson gives "we are not worthy bows" to Kris from the judges' table. Kris' wife is ecstatic in the audience. His parents cry. Kris hugs Danny, then Adam (much longer). Danny and Adam hug each other. Ryan then announces the person appearing with Kris in the finale is (long pause) ... Adam! Danny has never been in the Bottom 3, but didn't make it to the finale. Has that ever happened before? Does anyone out there know?

We get teary watching Danny's journey. He then sings "You Are So Beautiful." It's even better than Tuesday. It's damn near perfect. We feel sorry for him. Even though Kris was good Tuesday and had gotten better week-by-week, we're not sure it should be him instead of Danny. But America has spoken.

On Tuesday Kris and Adam face off for the championship.

Watch video of Danny Gokey's elimination

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© 2009

American Idol Season 8Top 3

OMIGOD, this may be simultaneously the worst season of Idol and the most exciting finale ever. Though in many ways we think the group of semifinalists selected this year was substandard when compared with previous seasons, and we hated most of the changes made by the producers –- from fourth judge Kara DioGuardi to Ryan Seacrest descending the Stairway to Disaster Heaven –- the closeness of the race between the Top 3 has become breathtaking.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t because all the performances were spectacular. But what looked like an Adam Lambert-Danny Gokey fait accompli since the beginning of the season is now a big question mark. And who would have imagined back then that the dark horse in all of this would be Kris Allen?

DialIdol is calling Tuesday night’s Top 3 sing-off too close to call, saying any of the guys could land in first, second or third position. So although Adam is leading Kris by about 1.5% and Kris is leading Danny by less than 1%, Kris could, in actuality, be in first place and Adam in last. There is no saying until tonight who will be in the finale and that is the enviable position that Fox and “American Idol” pray for. The ratings tonight should be awesome with the race so close. Stunning!

Perhaps not surprisingly, the contestants seem to know themselves much better musically than the judges do, as all three contestants' choice performances trumped their judges' choice renditions, especially in Kris' case. Simon Cowell wasn't the only one predicting it was the end for Allen after his first song. But he redeemed himself almost magically with his second song.

We also had to wonder how the producers determined the order of the performances. The first spot is generally considered the "death spot," because it is forgotten most easily, while the last position, or pimp spot, is the most coveted one. It couldn't have helped Danny that he went first, nor hurt Adam that he closed both the top and bottom of the show. Kris, the little train that could -- and did -- sat neutrally in the middle. While next week's positions will be (or has in the past been) determined by a coin toss, how were this week's chosen?

Danny Gokey opened the evening with Paula Abdul's selection for him, Terence Trent D'Arby "Dance Little Sister." When he read her text on the radio during his hometown visit, he told the DJ he didn't even know the song. Though we know D'Arby's more famous hits, we hadn't heard it before either, but when we sampled it online, we thought it fit Danny's vocal comfort zone perfectly. He did a good job and had good energy, though we were perhaps hoping the performance would have more electricity or magnetism. But it was good. Randy Jackson said, "Dude, I'm telling you, the way to jump it off tonight. Danny, a lot of energy, you performing like crazy, sounding good ... Dude, that was dope for me, dude." Kara told Paula she was glad she picked that song for Danny because "it keeps him in his money spot in his tone ... but I gotta say, the dancing was a little too gyrating for me. You're a great singer, but am I going to remember that performance tomorrow? I just don't know." Paula said, "Well, I'm a choreographer and I think you did (pause) REALLY GOOD! ... and you let that magic part of your voice carry out throughout the rest of the song. I thought you did a fantastic job. Way to go, Danny." Simon first reminds us (as he does whenever it's convenient for him, but forgetting it when it's not), that this is "a singing show, not a dancing show, like that funny little show next door (hmmm, what's in the studio next to them? We think "Dancing With the Stars," because in previous seasons stars have appeared live on both shows the same day). He then, heh, talks about the dancing, calling it a bit desperate. He offhandedly calls it, "Vocally, very, very good," adding, "My biggest problem was the toy saxophone solo in the middle ... so I wouldn't have put the saxophone solo (which Danny scatted to) in." He also says Paula was on the right track with Terence Trent D'Arby, but that he would have picked a different, more famous D'Arby song, such as "Sign Your Name." Interestingly, there's a bit of a reveal here, because Paula tells him, "But he's doing a ballad, so I wanted him to do something different." So this means that the judges knew what the contestants' picks were before they made their picks and, at least in Paula's case, tried to balance the choices.

Watch video of Danny Gokey singing "Dance Little Sister Dance" by Terence Trent D'Arby

When we first learned that Randy and Kara (have they merged into one person now named Rara or Kandy?) selected OneRepublic's "Apology" for Kris Allen, we knew that it would be perfect for his voice, as well. But we had this niggling thought in the back of our mind: David Archuleta sang this on last season's finale, and no way is Kris going to sound better than David. And we were right. Accompanying himself on piano, Kris struggled with pitchiness in a few places. It was not a great performance on a night that should have been filled with great performances. Danny might not have been great, but his first number was certainly better. We shouldn't have, but at that point we figured Kris was roadkill. Randy tells Kris the performance showed people who he could be as an artist, saying, "Nice, baby. Very nice." Kara calls it a really competent performance, but says "At this stage, you've got to be swinging it out of the park ... I wanted you to make it more your own." She hopes he will take more chances on his next song. Paula says, "There was a bum note there that was loud, but I am so proud of you, because at this stage of the game, all three of you are worthy to be in the Top 2 spot." Simon immediately takes issue with Paula, saying, "How can you say there's a bum note, I'm so proud of you"? He then attacks Kara, saying what she said was a cop-out. "You can't choose a song for him and them blame him for doing the song." This infuriates Kara, who lashes back with, "Wait a minute! You're going to tell me about interpreting songs? Have you ever interpreted a song in your life? No, I don't think so." Simon then says, motioning toward Rara-Kandy, "What these two should have done, what I did, is work out the arrangement -- if she wants you to play of the geetar, you should have played the geetar. You can't blame him, you didn't hold up your responsibilities," ending with a smug smile on his face. Randy chimes in with, "We should be able to work out the arrangements?" Simon: "Yeah, you should." Huh? How does this show how creative the artist is?

Watch video of Kris Allen singing "Apologize" by OneRepublic "One" by U2

We had read that Simon had sent Adam Lambert two texts, one saying he would be singing "One" by U2, the other saying he would be singing Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game." Man, we've wanted to hear Adam do Chris Isaak all season. But it was the U2 song, which Simon says he had to get permission from Bono for Adam to do, that won out. We wish it hadn't. We like what what he did with the song, but others we know despised what they felt was his sped up shrieky version of it. Really despised it. Heh, see, he should have done "Wicked Game." The judges, however, were awed by Adam. Randy tells Adam, "You are definitely still in the zone, man. You are one of the hottest three in this competition." Gee that's narrowing it down. "Unbelievable vocals, a little bit for me going off the melody, I don't know if I love that so much." At this point, Simon boos at Randy. Yes, it has become all about the judges and their song choices and arrangements. The contestants are just their props. As Simon continues to boo, Randy continues, "I lost the song a little bit that way," ending with, "It is a great song and you are a really, really talented guy." Kara says, "Adam, you're a strategist, an amazing strategist, and you just proved that you can take a song and do it in a completely different way, change up the melodies, change up the instruments and make it un-be-liev-able. Un-be-liev-able. You didn't just sing it the way that U2 or Bono did it. You did your own version." Then coyly turning to Simon, says, "See what I mean, Simon?" Oh, give it up, you babies. It's not all about you. Paula tells Adam, "You don't know how miserable my life is right now. Sitting next to him [Simon] gloating. ... It was one brilliant song, one superb performance and an American Idol that I'm staring at right now." Simon says, "Well, it may sound a little bit biased, but I thought that was a brilliant song choice. ... You find a great artist, you find a great song. You worked out what you wanted to do with it. It was a brilliant, brilliant performance and I have to say here and now, if you're not in the final next week, it will be one of the biggest upsets."

Watch video of Adam Lambert singing "One" by U2

OK, it's time for a consciousness-raising breather, so a film is shown of Carrie Underwood in Luanda, Angola, handing out anti-malaria mosquito nets and acting like a twinkie. She says to a resident, "Have you or your daughter ever had malaria?" The interpreter says, "They said they have not had malaria." Carrie, turning back to the camera with a lame, I wish I didn't have to do this smile: "Good. Then the mosquito nets are working." Duh. The producers air this film so they can pretend they still care. But fund-raising was really Nigel Lythgoe's thing, not theirs. And Nigel has danced away from "Idol." Of course, raising money is still the current producers' objective, only for themselves, not for the needy. BTW, Carrie's trip was paid for by sponsor Exxon, not the producers. Well, anyway, sorry, chap. Dark negative thoughts and all that. Ta ta and back to the show.

Watch video of Carrie Underwood in Africa

It's time for Round 2. Danny has picked Joe Cocker's "You Are so Beautiful" and slowed it down, softened it up and threw in a bit of gospel. It's nice. It sits well. We like it better than his first number. But why is Danny dressed like a Sunday school teacher? Oh, yes, he kinda is one. Randy says, "Dude, you showed you were here because you can really, really, really sing. Mad vocals, dude, mad vocals." Kara says, "Danny, everything that you didn't do in the first performance for me, you just did. That was s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g. S-t-u-n-n-i-n-g. There's nothing else to say. Amazing." Paula tells Danny, "You left all of us breathless. ... You nailed it. It was a beautiful, beautiful (voice going up) per-for-mance!" Simon says, "I loved the song, I wouldn't have done the same arrangement -- because it didn't need rearranging, it would have worked with you and a piano. Having said that ... I would call that a vocal master class." Wow, high praise, indeed.

Watch video of Danny Gokey singing "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker

Kris Allen's second number was the biggest surprise of the night, and might have won him a spot in the finale. We were a bit apprehensive when we heard he had chosen Kanye West's "Heartless," but he, too, took a song and made it his own, putting a soft jazz Jason Mraz-like spin on it. We were totally into it. Really, really good stuff. Though we would still argue that there is nothing recognizably distinctive about Kris' voice -- other than it being good -- we are beginning to that this kid might have a recording future. And we would love for him to put this on his record. Randy told Kris, "I like that version better than The Frays version, better than Kanye West's version. Dude! That, for me, was better than the original! Dude! You are in it to win it! I love it baby, I love it!" Kara says, "Why didn't you do that with "Apologize"? ... You know what? It was bold, it was brave and it was fearless. To stand on that stage with an acoustic guitar. ... Kudos. Kudos to you for that. Perfect -- the tone, the pitch, the phrasing. 100% Amazing." But did you like it, Kara? Paula, reaching for a laugh, says, "You know, you are the bravest artist, because you sang a song that's about Simon Cowell." Simon makes a "ha, ha, ha" face and motion. "Having said that, this is what makes you relevant, to be able to do something completely different. And I commend you. Bravo." Simon tells Kris, "Look, I'm going to honest with you. After what I thought was a rather lame song choice (referring to Randy's and Kara's pick for Kris) ... I had literally written you out for this competition. That, however, has all changed after than performance." Sure has.

Watch video of Kris Allen singing "Heartless" by Kanye West

We weren't thrilled when we heard that Adam's personal song choice was Aerosmith's "Cryin,'" which would inevitably take him back to his shrieky place. And it did. The performance was fine, only it's nothing we hadn't seen Lambert do all season. We would have preferred a number that would awe us, the way "Mad World" did. This was just another good Adam Lambert performance. Randy tells Adam, "You are one of the best that we've ever had on this stage. One of the most charismatic. One of the biggest, brightest stars, and you should make a rock album. I love this even more than "One" for you, because you should be a rock star. This is who you are, baby." Kara says, "How do you hit those notes and till talk the next day? ... That was amazing, and what can we say but, 'We'll see you in the finals.'" Paula tells Adam, "If Steven Tyler was a mentor, I don't think he'd have anything to say. You've set the bar so high in the sky ... we'll be seeing you next week (pausing) and many years after that." Simons says, "Look, Adam, I'm not going to suck up quite as much as the other three, and I'll tell you why I say that. It's very easy to assume that you're going to sail through to the final next week. Right? So, let me just take this back to tonight. The show is about finding a star who has earned the right to be in the final, and I want everyone not to assume that you're going to be there, but to vote for you because you deserve it based on talent." The other three judges start chanting, "Vote, vote, vote." And you know, Simon was right. It's going to be very close. If Adam doesn't make it to next week, it'll speak more to confident complacency on the part of his fans than anything else.

Watch video of Adam Lambert singing "Cryin'" by Aerosmith

Whereas we think Adam won Round 1, we would give Round 2 to Kris. But that doesn't mean Danny's out. He held his own in both rounds. It's impossible for us to call the Top 2. What do you think?

Tonight, Jordin Sparks and Katy Perry perform. We'll gnaw at our fingernails till the end of the show. Sigh!

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© 2009

American Idol Season 8Top 4 Results

Safe: Kris Allen

Crap, that must mean Allison Iraheta is doomed. Damn!

Safe: Adam Lambert
Safe: Danny Gokey

Yes, Allison is gone.

Eliminated: Allison Iraheta

For women, this season on "Idol" sucked more than any other. To begin with, only 5 finalists of the Top 13 were women, even though we saw many, many talented ladies in the auditions and semifinals. Next, Alexis Grace, who should have made it to the Top 5, was eliminated in eleventh place, summarily dismissed without a thought to saving her. Instead, the "sage" judges saved Matt Giraud twice, first selecting him as a Wild Card choice, then saving his ass from elimination in the Top 7. There wasn't much quality in the other female finalists -- Jasmine Murray and Megan Joy were viewer rejects thrown back in as Wild Cards by the judges, and Lil Rounds, who showed great promise early on, was picked on and pummeled by the judges -- especially Simon Cowell -- until she disintegrated into a ball of nothing. Allison Iraheta, the last lady standing, was perhaps the season's biggest surprise. Only 16 when the process started for her, she made it to the Top 4 in spite of the fact that her full audition video never aired (she was seen for literally 5 seconds during the audition stage in a clip), a feat not seen since Bo Bice became Season 4's runner-up. She carried on with bravura performances week after week, though she perplexingly never developed a strong fan base, and tied Anoop Desai for the dubious distinction of placing in the Bottom 3 three times prior to elimination. That she was eliminated before receiving her hometown parade after giving the second best set of performances in the Top 4 seems so unfair. Surely she deserved to live another week more than Kris Allen, but then, "American Idol" has always been as much a popularity contest as a singing contest, no matter how much the judges deny it. So let's hear it for petite powerhouse Allison Iraheta. We tip our hat and bid her a bittersweet adieu. Ultimately, we think her star will shine longer and much brighter than either Kris Allen's or Danny Gokey's. Adam Lambert? Well, no other contestant this season is likely to outshine him.

Ryan Seacrest opens the show saying that there were over 64 million votes this week, an almost 20 million vote boost over last week and the highest total outside of a finale. Set to "Move Along" by All American Rejects, the Ford commercial has the Top 4 as cutouts. It is lame. They really don't seem to be even trying to make these commercials creative any longer. Has Ford cut the budget?

Watch video of Ford Commercial to "Move Along"

Slash rocks out on lead guitar, accompanying the Top 4 for the Group Number, Alice Cooper's "School's Out." The band overpowers the vocals and Kris and Danny look ridiculous trying to be rockers, especially next to the band and authentic rockers Adam and Allison. It's like Kara DioGuardi said when they sang "Renegade." It just doesn't compute. These guys aren't outlaws; they're the guys who help little old ladies cross the street. After the song Slash talks to Ryan about his upcoming first solo release, saying it will feature a lot of guest artists, but he's not saying who.

Watch video of Group Song "School's Out"

Next Seacrest chats up the Top 4, who are sitting on stools -- too few to pull out the couches. Kris tells Seacrest he didn't expect to make it this far and feels blessed, but Simon tells him, "We don't want humble any more." Adam again tells everyone how great it was to be able to do Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" and, laughing, that he liked his outfit. Danny talks about his final note from hell on "ScreamDream On," saying that when he watched it back on TV, he laughed all night. It was so bad, his aunt even muted her TV. He calls it his funniest moment on "American Idol" and says that his horror scream will probably be in movies pretty soon. Ryan talks to Allison about her feistiness with Simon Tuesday night. She says, "I'm not that kind of person who talks back, but it's just that she(?) was asking for it, so it was fine, I'll give it to you!"

Watch video of Ryan chatting with Top 4

There's a lot of time to fill tonight to ensure that the show runs into OT (and it does), so there are three musical numbers, two of them (Paula Abdul and No Doubt) prerecorded. The first features Paula Abdul performing, according to Ryan, for the first time on the "Idol" stage. She sings her new release, "I'm Just Here for the Music." If you like Abdul's music, you'll like this piece of pop confetti. It's in the same league as last year's "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow." Although she's wearing a headset to look cool, Abdul unquestionably was lip-syncing, but for her age she looks -- with the exception of her plastic-surgery destroyed breasts -- like hot stuff.

Watch video of Paula Abdul singing "I'm Just Here for the Music"

Too few contestants to start the eliminations (or, in tonight's case, safetys) just yet. It's time for the second prerecorded number, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt singing "I'm Just a Girl." After the performance, Ryan asks Stefani why they're launching this "massive tour" without a new album, and she blames it on the kids she's been pushing out and staying at home, but promises that the point of the tour is a new No Doubt CD.

Watch video of No Doubt singing "I'm Just a Girl"

Ryan says that the Top 3 will get to return home for hometown parades and a clip reel of previous finalists' visits is shown. When they get to Elliott Yamin's mom in the parade car, we choke up a bit. Time to -- briefly -- get down to business. Ryan goes over the Top 4's critiques from the night before and says he's going to release one of them to safety, in no particular order. We figure it's gotta be Danny or Adam. But, no! It's Kris! Kris looks as surprised as we are. We're thunderstruck, angry, disappointed. This means Allison is roadkill. No way they're going into the finale without cash cows Danny and Adam.

Watch video of Kris Allen being declared safe

It's time for a breather and to let the shock set in -- for us and poor Allison. Ryan introduces Daughtry, who sing the first release, "No Surprise," from their upcoming CD. We love the song, but it sounds tinny on TV. It's much better online. Go to Daughtry's official site to get a good listen. You'll love it. Ryan chats up Chris Daughtry after the performance and they relive his inauspicious fourth-place elimination. Seacrest asks Daughtry how vivid the memory of his elimination is. Chris says very vivid. At the time he thought his world was coming to an end ... but he got over it about 30 seconds later. Heh, yeah. And then made bitter remarks for weeks in interviews. Is Seacrest trying to plant the seed that maybe Allison is going to knock off one of this season's sure things?

Watch video of Daughtry singing "No Surprise"

And so, the moment of "truth" arrives. Ryan is going to release someone else to safety. It's Adam. Dare we think it? Could Allison outlive Danny? Nah! Maybe? Please? No. Danny is safe. We cry with Allison during her journey video, then she rocks the house even better than Tuesday with "Cry Baby." Ah, those prophetic song titles. Perhaps she should have sung "Somebody to Love." Sigh.

Watch video of Allison Iraheta being eliminated

As Ryan tells us that next week the Top 3 will sing (only) two songs (ugh!) -- one the judges' choice, the other the contestants' personal pick -- the camera pans to Simon, who has a particularly sour, pissed-off look on his face. Why?

On Wednesday night, Katy Perry will perform her latest release, "Waking Up in Vegas,” and Jordin Sparks will sing her new single, "Battlefield."

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© 2009

American Idol Season 8Top 4 Rock Week

Yea, rock night on "Idol," mentored by Slash. And just as we expected, Adam and Allison ruled, though perhaps in Allison's case not with the voters, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Before the live show began, a horror show occurred on the "Idol" set just prior to the dress rehearsal, which had to be cancelled. First, stage manager Debbie Williams, following Ryan Seacrest down that ridiculous 20-foot-long "stairway to heaven" -- which is supposed to retract behind Seacrest as he walks down -- tumbled down it when it retracted too soon. TMZ and blog reports say that Williams suffered a "nasty gash" on her leg and was taken to the hospital in a neck brace on a stretcher, but was waving and smiling as she left. Earlier in the day on "Ellen," in an ironic coincidental twist, Simon Cowell had called it the staircase that "almost killed Ryan's career this year ..."

Then, as Seacrest apologized to the dress rehearsal audience for the delay, one of the giant "American Idol" globes that are on towers near the ceiling, began to crackle and hiss. It reportedly exploded and crashed to the ground, sending glass and debris everywhere. Ryan attempted to calm the panicing audience, as they cleared the studio.

Seacrest talked about the globe mishap at the beginning of the show without going into too much detail and said the contestants had missed their live run through, ending with "but the show must go on."

And go on it did -- into overtime as usual. Allegedly trying to avoid that, the producers had decided to have the Top 4 perform only one solo each and a duet each, pairing Danny with Kris and Allison with Adam. Although the first pairing turned out to be rather lame, especially for Kris, Adam and Allison were awesome together. Still, the duets would have been better saved for the finale, not on shows where the contestants are still trying to prove themselves as solo artists. It's annoying that in all previous seasons, the Top 5 and Top 4 have sung two songs each, while the Top 3 sings three. If they can't get six songs in on time, we guess there's absolutely no hope for nine next week. Following this year's pattern, the Top 3 will only have to do two each, proving themselves far less than former finalists. In past Top 3 weeks, one song was the judges' choice, one the contestants' choice and the final choice belonged either to Clive Davis or the producers. Hopefully, one song will still be the judges' choice. The other? Who knows?

Totally in his element, Adam Lambert opening the evening with Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." Even his guyliner was edgier than usual, adding to the mad rock vibe. Except for some of his over-indulgent high-pitched shrieking the performance was nearly flawless, outdistancing the rest of the pack. The audience went WILD. When Randy Jackson was finally able to shout over them, he said, "You're a rock star tonight! ... That was hot!" Kari DioGuardi, trying to look tough in a studded leather jacket and rocking a ridiculously ugly pulled back, bang-less hairstyle, screamingly gushed, "Adam, you're not a rock star, you're a rock god! That's what you are, OK? The record you should be making is classic rock from the '70s, glam rock from the '80s with Nine Inch Nails. No one's doing it, you've got the vocals for it, nobody else has it, it's your lane. Kill it! YES! YES! YES!" Geez, it was like the deli scene in "When Harry Met Sally." Kara sounded as if she was having an orgasm by the end. We'll have what she's having, OK? Paula Abdul called Adam "a whole lotta perfect." It was just so anti-climactic after Kara, heh. Simon said, "Well, I have one criticism. I thought the performance was a little understated. Teeeasing. ... This could have been an absolute disaster, taking on one of the greatest rock songs of all time, but it was actually one of my favorite performances you've ever done. The only problem is, nobody can top that now." And he was right.

Watch video of Adam Lambert singing "Whole Lotta Lot"

Yes, Adam did outdistance the rest of the pack, but 17-year-old Allison Iraheta still held her own beautifully with a terrifuc rendition of Janis Joplin's "Cry Baby." As Randy would say, this kid has mad skillz. In her Coke pre-performance interview she says she went to Adam's hair girl, who has been doing his locks for two years. Her hair looks better than it's every looked. Book us an appointment. Better yet, get us one of those thick manes. Allison tells Slash that she was trying to decide between "Cry Baby" and Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love." He tells her she's a natural for Joplin. We loved it, Randy and Kara, not so much. Boo! Hiss! Randy says, "You can sing your face off, you can sing anything. I did not love the song choice for you. I thought there were a lot of better vehicles that had a little bit more melody ... I don't know, I didn't love this, it wasn't that great for me." Yeah, well, it killed what Kris and Danny are going to do, but you will give them the props for trying -- even if they didn't succeed. Kara starts out with, "You know Janis is the right choice for you, bluesy rock, it is, BUT 'Piece of My Heart,' could have seen that ..." Randy: "More melody." Kara then asks Allison if she was nervous. Allison says she's always nervous (you'd never know). Kara, somewhat gratuitously, tells Allison she transforms onstage and becomes larger than life and that she can see her personality onstage and wants to "give her that prop." Um, thanks. Paula calls Allison downright fearless and says it they ever do a biopic of Janis Joplin, Allison's got the role, ending with "You did a great job." Simon says, "I thought you had complete confidence up there, I thought it was a terrific vocal. My only criticism is is that you're trying too hard to sound like the original, so I didn't see much originality ... it was -- compliment -- soundalike, but I wouldn't have chosen that song." He then tells her he would have chosen the Queen song. She tells him her other song was Jefferson Airplane. He gives her a look like she's nuts, when it was him who wasn't listening. She tells him he always says she doesn't talk enough so now she's talking. He ultimately tells her, "Allison, I like the fact that you're arguing for yourself. Good for you."

Watch video of Allison Iraheta singing "Cry Baby"

Next up, the first duet, Kris Allen and Danny Gokey singing "Renegade" by Styx. They harmonize well, but Kris proves he is more "I Am a Rock" than "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." He shouldn't sing rock -- ever. Danny fares better, but the entire performance, especially for a rock show, is a big "so what." Randy says he really liked the harmonies and that two complement each other. "The individual vocals were OK, but the harmonies were on blast." Kara: "Them singing 'Renegade'? I mean, 'Renegade'? That doesn't compute for me. Cause they're like the guys that help the little women cross the street, you know? They're not, like, wanted." She then says than the "sum of the parts was better. You definitely had some moments," but she's not sure they could always hear themselves, because there were pitchy moments, ending, without any conviction, with, "but together, it was united and strong." Paula says, "It was powerful and it was compelling. Good job." Simon, rightly, seems to think the whole idea is a joke. Laughing, he says, "I don't know what to say." Randy: "Say whatever you like." Simon: "OK. Who was better? Danny, you were better than Kris. How's that?" Well, not too good for Kris, who makes a face and has to do his solo next.

Watch video of Kris Allen and Danny Gokey singing "Renegade"

Things didn't get any better for Kris Allen when he decides to take on The Beatles "Come Together." He's no John Lennon. And, even though we hated the rendition of "Imagine" that David Archuleta did last year, Kris isn't creative enough to change "Come Together" into something everyone will swoon over, as David did. Kris even screwed up some lyrics. So if Allen makes it to the Top 3 instead of Allison, it'll be a real injustice. He was 0 for 2 this week, while she batted 2 for 2. She'll never make it to the finale, but she deserves the hometown parade. Randy tells Kris that he knows he's not really a rock guy, he's "a little bit hybrid," but that he appreciates that he picked a song where he can still be himself. Exactly, Randy. It didn't rock AT ALL. And though Randy wasn't blown away by the vocals, he loved what Kris was playing on the guitar. Randy, Randy, Randy. How may times have you personally reminded us this season that this is a SINGING competition? Sheesh. Kara tells Kris he'd definitely the softer side of rock, "but for me, this was not a great performance. I just thought it was trying too hard, it wasn't the best song and I just think there's more than what you delivered tonight. Sorry." Best critique she's given all season. Paula tells Kris it's kind of risky to do a Beatles song (the contestants had to do two last season!) then babbles on about his signature and imprint being all over it. She tells him he needs to have a little more energy, but is "deserving of being on that stage." Simon says, "I actually didn't like it that much. It was rather like eating ice for lunch." What are these weird water analogies Simon's been making for Kris lately? Last week he called Kris' performance "wet." Simon: "It will leave you with nothing to remember afterward. It was actually quite a boring song (er, we think you mean performance, not song), quite a safe one. It was a bit of a jam, you know?" Kris' eyes are wide open, like, "no, I don't."

Watch video of Kris Allen singing "Come Together"

Danny Gokey takes on Aerosmith's "Dream On," which is exactly what we said when we heard he was performing it. C'mon, Danny doing "Dream On"? Or as Vote for the Worst dubbed his performance, "Scream On." And he didn't disappoint us. As Slash said, it's all going to come down to that scream at the end. And if anything every truly sounded like three cats tied in a bag and dropped off the Empire State Building, it was that final note. Yikes! and Ouch! Scarily, Danny is so pleased with himself after the performance he applauds himself with the audience. After hearing the judges, he's confused, saying he'll have to watch it back on TV, 'cause he thought it was pretty good. Not! Randy says, "It was alright for me. It wasn't perfect (ha!) or that great, but I'll give you one thing. I'll give you an A+ for valiant effort. Cause to hit that high note, (laughing) you had like three notes jumping off all at once." Kara tells Danny that he took last week's swagger and adding more edge to his performance comments too far. "I don't see you on this type of song. I see you more early Aerosmith, but I will say, that I like to see growth and I like to see risks and I like to see more edge and I saw that tonight. Was it perfect? No. But I commend you for taking chances. Because rock 'n' roll is about being bold and going for it." Paula says, "I don't know if this was the right song for you, but I am a huge fan of yours. ... It wasn't my favorite choice of song, but I give you an A++ for going for it." To Randy and Paula: shouldn't you give him a D- for picking a song that was beyond his capabilities? In an audition, you would have laughed him out of the room for that final note. Simon tells Danny, "The last note was like watching a horror movie. It's like the scene in 'Friday the 13th.' It's just like this scream. It was actually a little bit over the top." A little bit? How about massively? Then, the camera pans to a kid in the audience holding a sign that says: "Simon Cowell: The King of Common Sense." Simon stops his critique flicks his finger back to the audience and says, "I agree, by the way," cracking Paula up. He ends by telling Danny, "I still think you're going to be safe." Of course he is.

Watch video of Danny Gokey singing "Dream On"

Surprisingly, though we would have preferred to see the contestants stretch themselves with two solos, Adam's and Allison's duet on Foghat's "Slow Ride" was our favorite performance of the night. It had tremendous energy and flair and the two blended beautifully and effortlessly. They even looked good together. A natural pairing. We were stoked and so were the judges and audience. The cheers were deafening. Randy tells them, "You guys should do a duet on your albums. That was da bomb, baby." Kara says, "Rock god, rock goddess, this is when a duet is right. When you're pushing each other to be better. That's what you just did on that stage." Paula tells them, "The two of you are a perfect blend, a perfect marriage ... You guys should do a duet together because you totally are in sync with each other. It's a beautiful thing." Simon says, "In the battle of the duets, you win the show tonight ... And actually, Adam, you may have given this one (pointing at Allison, whose name he probably forgot) a chance at staying in the competition because of that." Adam says, "I hope so," later saying to Ryan that Allison is like his little sister. The closeness better the two is endearing.

Watch video of Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta singing "Slow Ride"

Our Top Two:
Adam Lambert
Allison Iraheta

Our Bottom Two:
Kris Allen
Danny Gokey

Should Be Eliminated: Kris Allen
Will Be Eliminated: Kris Allen

On tonight's show Daughtry performs "No Surprise" from its upcoming CD, Paula Abdul sings her new release, "Here for the Music" and No Doubt will also perform in a segment taped on Tuesday.

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© 2009

American Idol Season 8Top 5 Results

Bottom 3:
Matt Giraud
Kris Allen
Adam Lambert

Kris is safe!

Eliminated: Matt Giraud

We're down to the Top 5, and aside from Alexis Grace being the first finalist eliminated, we've had no shocks. So it's time to get America scared. And how do the producers do that? By making everyone think that Adam is actually in jeopardy of leaving. C'mon, ratings are down. Do you really think the producers are going to let their lightning in a bottle escape before the finale? No way! But they want to make sure you're not too bored to tune in for the next three weeks, thinking you already know who has won.

Ryan Seacrest tells us there were 47 million votes this week, the most they've had all season. He introduces the Ford commercial which features the Ford Fusion and is set to "Energy" by The Apples in Stereo. In actuality, the video has the least energy of any all season. It really looked like a commercial -- any commercial. Boring!

Watch video of Ford commercial set to "Energy"

Next was the Group Number. It was a medley of "It Don't Mean a Thing" (or, as Ryan called it, "I Don't Mean a Thing," which, perhaps, was what Matt was singing) and "I Got Rhythm." There wasn't much in the way of choreography, but the Top 5 sounded pretty good together.

Watch video of the Group Number, "It Don't Mean a Thing/I Got Rhythm"

Yet more video filler, which will push the show over by 6 minutes. It features the Top 5 making cakes for Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta, who both celebrated their birthdays during the past week. Their gift from the producers voters this week will be that they are declared safe and not in the Bottom 3. Of course, a food fight erupts in the mansion, no doubt encouraged by the film crew. (Is it just us? We hate it when reality shows feature destruction in the mansions they rent. Why is frat house behavior considered acceptable behavior?) Ryan asks who started the food fight and all hands point toward Danny. Ryan hands Danny an envelope which, he says, contains "a gift for you, from all of us here." It is a $6,000 bill from the company that cleaned up the mansion after the food fight. Danny asks Ryan, "You mean 'American Idol' doesn't pay for this?" Ryan says, "Maybe we'll take care of it ... if you win." Is this a clue of what's to come?

Watch video of Idol mansion food fight

Speaking about Tuesday night's show, Simon Cowell says that when he watched it back he decided everybody was good and that it was the best show yet. Later, when the Bottom 3 is revealed, he will be chided by Ryan on how wrong his critiques were on Matt and Adam -- he loved both, whereas Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi had some issues with their performances.

It's time to get down to the results. We're playing the Top 7 game, but with five contestants. Ryan asks Matt to step to stage left, then Danny to stage right. Allison goes right, Kris left. Ryan asks Adam to pick which group he thinks he belongs in. Adam says, "I love everybody. Why'd you do that to me?" then "Based on last night?" Ryan says, "Sure." Adam turns right, and pointing to Allison and Danny, says, "Probably that group." Ryan sends Adam over to them, then joins him and says, "Adam, Allison and Danny, not your Bottom 3." Taking Adam by the arm, Ryan leads him over to Matt and Kris and says, "This is your Bottom 3." Shock! Dismay! Producers' fix! Actually, for our money, we think Matt, Kris and Adam deserved to be the Bottom 3. Allison and Danny look stunned as they are declared safe.Ryan asks the judges for their reactions. Paula says it's crazy, but someone has to go. Simon says it's not crazy, America has decided who they like and let's not take anything away from Allison and Danny, Randy says no matter what happens all five are unbelievably talented. Ryan says, "Kara, when I said that Adam was in the Bottom 3, I saw your jaw drop," something Kara says she always does when Adam performs. Uh-huh. Kara: "Yeah, my mouth went open again. That's what happens with Adam." Randy "coughs." Kara: "Yeah, I know. (laughs) You know what I mean, Randy." Yeah, Kara, only too well.

Later, for dramatic effect, Ryan will release Kris back to safety first.

Watch video of Matt, Kris and Adam becoming theBottom 3 and Kris being released back to safety

Performances, we've got (too many) performances. First, to evoke the week's theme, Natalie Cole sings "Something's Gotta Give," from her 2008 CD "Still Unforgettable." Lean, long and fit in a gold tunic dress, she looks fantastic, but is (sorry) occasional pitchy. In spite of her enthusiasm, the band is better than she is. So it goes.






Watch video of Natalie Cole singing "Something's Gotta Give"

Next up is returning Season 5 champion Taylor Hicks, singing "7 Mile Breakdown," the second release from his new CD, "The Distance." As with Cole, Taylor is looking long, lean and fabulous. His hair is short (a good idea), but he is trying to sneak in those Taylor bangs again (not a good idea). Although we loved the first release off "The Distance," we're not crazy about this one. But he sounds good and throws in a little harmonica. We can only imagine how Simon must be cringing. When he finishes, he gets a standing O from the audience and judges, including Simon, who, we're sure, did it out of courtesy only. Taylor can't get over the standing O from the judges, especially Simon. Their lack of love for one another is epic. Ryan asks Taylor to give advice to the finalists, and as he does, the camera pans back to Simon. The look of disgust on his face is priceless.

Watch video of Taylor Hicks singing "7 Mile Breakdown"

Finally, in what seems to be a tit-for-tat arrangement for his agreeing to "mentor" at the last minute, Jamie Foxx gets to perform "Blame It," his current No. 1 hip-hop release from his latest CD. Simon also calls him "my best friend" as Ryan introduces him. Hmmm, now that's an interesting friendship.





Watch video of Jamie Foxx singing "Blame It"

It's time for the moment of, ahem, "truth." Matt or Adam, Adam or Matt? Seriously. OMG, it's Matt! Who would have guessed? Er, everybody. For one teeny, tiny second Adam does a real good job of trying to convince us he thinks it's him when Ryan says his name first. Heh, nice acting skills, Lambert. We watch Matt's journey video, he sings "My Funny Valentine" again. It starts out a thousand times better than Tuesday night and with great phrasing, then plunges into horrible pitchiness as he tries to riff. But Matt pulls it back in time for a killer ending. Then Ryan inexplicably and intentionally stretches the show an extra two minutes talking with the judges and discussing next week's theme and guest mentor. Running out of things to say, he even plugs the local news, all this when the program is already 5 minutes into OT. If that wasn't intentional, what is?

Watch video of Matt Giraud being eliminated

Next week, the theme is rock 'n' roll, with guest mentor Slash from Guns N’ Roses. On Wednesday, Daughtry performs a song from their new album. Gwen Stefani returns to the Idol stage with No Doubt to perform as well.

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© 2009