Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Wacky time again on American Idol.

Paula gives Simon crayons and a coloring book.

Simon colors Paula, giving her a black mustache.

Meanwhile, Idol voters weigh the fate of the final 10 contestants on a Motown night that only occasionally lived up to its potential.

Adam Lambert again proved he’s the Idol to beat.

Lil Rounds continues to founder.

And Kris Allen and Danny Gokey turned in solid performances again, separating themselves a little from the other contestants in these male-heavy finals.

Hey, I know Anoop Desai and Matt Giraud have a ton of fans out there. But they just weren’t as good as Kris and Danny this week. See the song-by-song live blog here.

Here’s the recap of the finals, week number three …

Best of the bunch: Adam Lambert, for the second time in three weeks (or the third in four if you want to count his semifinal performance). Gone was the fingernail polish. Gone was the rocker edge. This was a classier looking Adam Lambert. What didn’t change was the knockout vocal. That rendition of “Track of My Tears” was the most tender knockout performance we’re likely to see this season.

Best from the gals: Allison Iraheta by a Motown mile. On a night when Lil disappointed and Megan showed her vulnerability in this competition, 16-year-old Allison looked like a seasoned vet belting out “Papa was a Rollin’ Stone.” I seriously underestimated this gal at the start of the competition. Hopefully voters wake up and recognize her talent, too. No way she belonged in the bottom three last week.

Deserves to go home: I feared Michael Sarver might have trouble on Motown night, and that’s just what happened. There are performers in this competition who can probably pull off “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg;” Michael isn’t one of them. That performance came off as average karaoke at best.

Baffled by the judges: Usually, every episode, there are a couple of reviews by the judges I just don’t get. That wasn’t the case Wednesday. They were appropriately critical of all the night’s worst performances — by Scott MacIntyre, Megan Joy and Michael Sarver. Given what followed, I thought they were overly generous to Matt Giraud. Simon declared him a frontrunner … well, maybe, if you mean for second place behind Adam Lambert.

Please keep her: Back from her bout with the flu, Megan Joy got skewered by the judges for her rendition of “For Once In My Life.” The good news, Megan showed more stage presence than she has in previous performances. More than that, this competition can’t afford to lose another female. Not unless we want to watch male pop singers all night.

Best line of the night from the judges: Simon to Megan: “The good news is, you look good. The bad news is, it was horrible. Whoever is advising you, I would fire. Because you’re getting some really, really terrible advice. It was an atrocious song. It was a horrible arrangement. The vocals were just all over the place.” Ah, yeah, that about covers it.

Surprise of the night: Lil Rounds, and it wasn’t a good surprise. I truly expected Lil to sparkle Wednesday night. She did with her new look. She didn’t do it with that rendition of “Heat Wave.” She oversang badly. Very badly. And she’s wasting the best voice of any female in this competition by continuing to pick songs that fail to show how good her voice really is.

Prediction for Thursday: After finishing in the bottom two last week, Michael Sarver needed to bounce back strong. He didn’t. Nor did he get a positive comment from any of the four judges, not even Paula. All in all, no amount of begging is likely to save Sarver from going home Thursday night. And, after last week, we know he’s unlikely to be the choice for a judges’ save.

The song-by-song grades:

Adam Lambert: “Track of My Tears,” A

Kris Allen: “How Sweet It Is,” B+

Danny Gokey: “Get Ready,” B+

Allison Iraheta: “Papa was a Rollin’ Stone,” B

Anoop Desai: “Oh, Baby, Baby,” B

Matt Giraud: “Let’s Get It On,” B-

Lil Rounds: “Heat Wave,” C

Scott MacIntyre: “You Can’t Hurry Love,” C-

Megan Joy: “For Once in My Life,” C-

Michael Sarver: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” D