Idol Chatter & Voice Views

He hasn’t been crowned the Idol yet, but Adam Lambert dominated season eight in a way few finalists ever had.

Between the spell-bounding vocals and the showmanship on stage, Adam provided one memorable moment after another over the past 10 weeks.

But his performances weren’t the only ones worth remembering. Here’s a countdown of the 10 best performances of 2009.

Oh, and we can’t forget the real clunkers. Those follow with a countdown of the five worst performance during the season eight finals.

Here’s a hint: You won’t find an Adam Lambert performance on that list. Kris Allen either, for that matter.

First, the top 10 of 2009 …

10. Kris Allen, “Ain’t No Sunshine”: Kris established himself as a darkhorse in the competition with a string of solid performances early in the finals, capped by this keyboard-accompanied version of Bill Withers’ oft-covered hit.

9. Adam Lambert, “Feeling Good”: Once the competition was narrowed to five, Idol trotted out one of its worst themes ever, Rat Pack Week. Thankfully, Adam was on hand to drag the theme kicking and screaming into the 21st century with a heavily theatrical version of a song recorded by Sammy Davis Jr. If you watch the video, be sure to hang around for the glory note at the end. Wow!

8. Allison Iraheta, “Hot Stuf”: Disco Week figured to be a challenge for Allison. No sweat. She just attached a rock edge to Donna Summer’s classic hit. Remember, this gal was just 16 for most of the competition, but she came off as fearless on stage.

7. Anoop Desai, “You’re Always on My Mind”: Anoop Desai got in trouble when he tried to play R&B star, but on Grand Ole Opry Week, he tackled a Willie Nelson classic, slowed things down and turned in his best vocal of the finals.

6. Adam Lambert, “Born to be Wild”: Adam proved he can sing anything (well, maybe except for country music) during the finals. But here he in his true element, a born to be rocker in command of the stage and singing the Steppenwolf classic on Songs from the Movies week.

5. Danny Gokey, “Jesus Take the Wheel”: Danny seldom lived up to the huge hype from his number one fans — Kara and Paula — but he showed he deserved his spot in the finals with this effort on “Grand Ole Opry Week.” And kudos on the song choice, tackling one of former Idol Carrie Underwood’s earliest hits.

4. Kris Allen, “Heartless”: Kris needed a big week to outlast Danny or Adam for a spot in the finals, and turned in one of his best performances with an acoustic version of the Kayne West song. Brilliant transformation of a hit to fit his style. Here’s guessing we’ll see more of that guitar Tuesday night in the Idol finale.

3. Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta, “Slow Ride”: Idol introduced duets to the competition for the first time in season eight. That gave Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta a chance to hook up on one of the season’s most fun performances. Gotta tell you, I really thought Allison deserved the spot in the finale opposite Adam.

2. Adam Lambert, “Black and White”: It was week one of the finals; the theme, Michael Jackson. And Adam quickly proved his brilliant version of “(Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” during the semifinals was no fluke.

1. Adam Lambert, “Mad World”: Adam might have been one of the more theatrical performers in Idol’s eight seasons, but he hit gold with a haunting performance of the Tears for Fears song in week five. How good was he? He got a standing ovation from Simon Cowell.

Now, for the five performances I really didn’t want to remember, let alone watch again. Counting down to the worst.

5. Alexis Grace, “Jolene”: Alexis showed great potential during her semifinal and round one performances. Then she decided to jazz up the simply beautiful Dolly Parton tune and wound up going home earlier than anyone suspected. Note to future finalists: Stay away from this song.

4. Anoop Desai, “Beat It”: What was Anoop thinking? Michael Jackson he ain’t. And when Simon talks about bad karaoke … well, this is pretty much a textbook example of what he’s talking about.

3. Jorge Nunez, “Never Can Say Goodbye”: Jorge Nunez was one of the surprise finalists in season eight. But viewers had no trouble saying goodbye to him after this snooze of a performance in round one.

2. Scott MacIntyre, “The Search is Over”: One of the most overrated finalists vocally, Scott was in over his head on this performance. Add the electric guitar and it made for a giant, “Oh, no.”

1. Megan Joy, “Turn the Lights Down Low:” Megan Joy earned a spot in the finals for her unique tone. This performance was unique, all right, in all the wrong ways.