Idol Chatter & Voice Views

So, was Adam Lambert’s next-to-last finish last week a fluke?

We’ll find out this week.

I mean, a rock theme and Adam’s talent should not be a troublesome mix. Remember that blistering performance of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” back in the semifinals? How about “Born to be Wild” on movie theme night?

No doubt, Adam can rock.

Then again, he wasn’t exactly stumped by Rat Pack Week. Yet there he was, on the verge of elimination.

I’m sticking to my original theory. Voters thought Adam was invincible, especially after that glory note at the end of “Feeling Good.” So they didn’t vote quite as fervently as they have in the past. And it nearly cost the best of the Idols.

And we just found out the rumor was true: The Idols will be singing duets tonight for the first time ever.

It’ll be interesting to see how they are split up. I’m still not sure how fair this is going to be. I figure the contestant who is paired with Adam has a big edge.

Here’s hoping one pairing is Adam and Allison Iraheta.

Adam Lambert is performing first, doing “Whole Lotta Love,” the Led Zeppelin classic. I was almost disappointed by Adam, when he stopped singing there for a moment. I was wondering, what was special about that performance? Then he launched into that ending. Brilliant again. Grade: A

Allison Iraheta is going to sing Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby.” I’m not sure singing Janis Joplin was the best choice for Allison. I mean, I’m getting flashbacks to last year when Amanda Overmyer did Joplin nearly every week. It’s really tough to out-Janis Janis and, as Simon pointed out, Allison really didn’t do anything new with the song. Still, I continue to admire what Allison has done this week as the youngest of the remaining finalists. Grade: B

Now, we get the first duet of the night, from Kris Allen and Danny Gokey. They’re doing “Hangman” from Styx. The a cappella opening and the ending were great. The middle, when they took turns singing the rocked-out section of the song, wasn’t so great. In fact, there were a couple of brutally off-key moments. Grade: B-

Here’s hoping Kris Allen, the pride of Conway, Ark., doesn’t have as many off notes in his solo song, “Come Together” by The Beatles. There’s just not much of a rock edge to Kris. He should have done his hair in a mohawk, a la Sanjaya Malakar. Just joking. The good news: Kris avoided off notes. The bad news: There wasn’t anything special about that performance. Certainly not the vocal. Grade B-.

The final solo performance of the night comes from Danny Gokey, singing Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” So another Idol, Danny no less, is going to try to shriek like Steven Tyler. Should be interesting. Well, I don’t think anyone will disagree: Steven Tyler is still king of the shriek. That said, Danny made a more convincing rocker than Kris Allen. Grade: B

And now, we have a show-closing duet between Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert. That’s the performance I’ve been waiting for. They would be my pick for this year’s final two. They’ll be singing “Slow Ride” by Foghat. And I wasn’t disappointed. They could go on tour together as a rock act. My only wish is that Allison would have picked a song along the lines of Foghat for her solo performance so she wouldn’t have been compared to a rock goddess. Grade: A-