Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Idols got to sing songs from the years of their birth Tuesday night. And wasn’t it great hearing all those stories about their childhood?

I mean, that footage of Matt Giraud performing in a church play as a young boy was priceless, right?

And how about that story about Allison Iraheta. About how she talked so much, her mother took her to the doctor to find out what was wrong.

Nothing, the doctor told her. She’s just going to grow up to become a singer.

And wasn’t it great to hear the Idols sing songs from the years of their birth?

Well … OK, maybe not.

Oh, talker Allison held up her end of the bargain, and dressed much less outlandishly. Hey, gal, when the judges talk about your singing and not about what you’re wearing, that’s a huge improvement.

And Adam Lambert was … well, Adam Lambert.

But there was a huge performance gap between those two and the rest of what’s becoming a more and more jumbled field of finalists. Anoop Desai and Matt bounced back, a little bit. Danny Gokey and Kris Allen slipped, a little bit. Lil Rounds continued her freefall as a serious contender in the competition. And Scott MacIntyre simply continued his freefall.

Here’s the recap.

Best of the bunch: Regardless of what happens on Idol this season and regardless of the theme, there’s one constant: Adam Lambert is going to blow you away with his performance. He did it again Tuesday night with an amazing vocal on “Mad World” by Tears for Fears. This guy is in a league of his own.

Best from the gals: Allison turned in the only other really strong peformance of the evening, singing Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Rather than belting out a song, rocker chick style, Allison turned in a truly heartfelt performance of a classic song. If that performance doesn’t earn her newfound respect among Idol fans … well, the fans should have their ears checked because, besides Allison and Adam, there was very little to rave about Tuesday night.

Deserves to go home: Scott MacIntyre. Look, he’s a great guy, an inspiration. But this is a singing competition, and that was an absolutely tortured vocal on “The Search Is Over.” And it came on the heels of a number of barely mediocre performances. Who told Scott singing a Survivor song was going to be a good idea? It wasn’t.

Baffled by the judges: Danny Gokey started off “Stand By Me” sounding like he’d inhaled too much helium. Then he started belting out a song that shouldn’t be belted. Translation: His worst performance in a while. But even Simon called it “great.” Has he been infected by the gaga over Gokey disease?

Please keep him: After building momentum in recent weeks, Kris Allen strayed off track with his guitar and a jazz-filled arrangement of Don Henley’s “All She Wants To Do Is Dance.” Randy Jackson said it best: The arrangement was so different, Kris’ vocal got lost in translation. But I’m thinking Kris has a solid enough fan base to survive an off week.

Best line of the night from the judges: Simon to Lil Rounds, after she sang “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” Said Simon: “We are not looking for a second- or third-rate version of Tina Turner … that became one of those ghastly copycat performances … It’s like we have literally lost you.”

Surprise of the night: He tried to mimic Usher, and it went very badly. He tried to mimic Michael Jackson, and it went worse. So Anoop decided to sing a Cyndi Lauper song Tuesday night. It could have been a disaster. It wasn’t. As Simon indicated, it wasn’t great, but it was better than Anoop had done since country week and probably enough to get him through another week of this competition.

Prediction for Wednesday: It’s time for Scott to go. Lil Rounds might also find herself in the bottom three for the first time because she just has not lived up to the potential she showed … well, way back in the Hollywood round.

Coming tomorrow: Follow along with the live blog during the Idol results show.

Song by song grades:

Adam Lambert — “Mad World” — A

Allison Iraheta — “I Can’t Make You Love Me” — A-

Anoop Desai — “True Colors” — B

Kris Allen — “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” — B-

Matt Giraud — “Part-Time Lover” — B-

Danny Gokey — “Stand By Me” — C

Lil Rounds — “What’s Love Got To Do With It” — C-

Scott MacIntyre — “The Search is Over” — F