Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Kudos to Lady Gaga for being every bit as strange as we knew she would be as an Idol mentor.

Kudos to Nigel Lythgoe for allowing the Idols to sing at least one current song tonight.

Limiting them to Leiber and Stoller tunes all evening at this stage of the competition would have been criminal.

Boo, boo, boo to the judges, who continue to harp on Haley Reinhart for song choice but …

1. Fail to point out that Scotty McCreery’s second song this evening was a silly throw-away at this point in the competition.

2. That Lauren Alaina didn’t even do “Anyway” as well as Kristy Lee Cook back in season seven.

3. That take away that shrieks, and James Durbin’s vocals don’t compare to the best Idol rockers — guys like Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert and David Cook.

After watching these contestants for nine weeks, this is clear, the best, most distinctive singers remaining are Scotty McCreery and Haley Reinhart.

The recap:

Best of the Night: The award for best song choice goes to Scotty McCreery. Singing Alan Jackson’s Sept. 11 song “Where Were You When the Earth Stopped Turning” considering what’s transpired in the past two weeks was brilliant. Talking about kissing the grass if he gets to go home to Garner, N.C., on Saturday was brilliant. Talking about wanting to kiss his cross after meeting Lady Gaga was brilliant. Best of all, his vocal on his round one song was brilliant. This guy is destined for the finals.

Runner-up: The best single vocal of the night came from Haley Reinhart in round two when she took on “I Who Have Nothing.” Haley’s been at her best during the competition singing up-tempo numbers, so I was a little worried when she announced this song choice. No reason to worry. She turned in a wonderful vocal, earning her second standing ovation in two weeks from a panel of judges who seem hard to please only when she is on stage.

Deserves to go home: Lauren Alaina. We were told she was the next Idol when she auditioned. What did Randy call her? Kelly Underwood? Something like that. Has she matched Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson? Hardly. She’s been a disappointment most of the season, standing still or sliding backward. For that reason, her time should be up on Idol. She turned in one of her most fun performances in weeks with “Trouble” in the second round Wednesday, but it followed a lackluster version of “Anyway.” And I hate to burst this panel’s little Lauren bubble, but Nashville is filled with females who can sing as well as their prized teenager. And who sound more distinctive.

Baffled by the judges:  James Durbin is a wonderful performer. He’s got an attitude that’s hard to root against. He showed a good deal of smarts opening the show with a Journey song that seemed designed just for Randy. He’s a heck of a shrieker too. Fact is, I think he puts Siobhan Magnus to shame because he has a better sense of when to shriek. But the judges repeatedly ignore vocals that aren’t exactly spot on when James is on stage.

Please keep her: Haley Reinhart. She wasn’t supposed to survive two weeks if you listened to the odds-makers. She’s the most improved contestant this season. She might be the most improved contestant over the course of the competition in the last four or five years. The first-round song choice wasn’t as wise as it could have been, but she still outsang James and Lauren in round one.

Prediction for Thursday: James and Scotty will get their homecomings. Which means Haley or Lauren Alaina won’t. Based on what they’ve done over the course of nine weeks and based on what they did Wednesday night, Haley should be the final member of the final three. Meaning Lauren Alaina goes home.

Song by song grades: (Live blog here)

Haley Reinhart: “I Who Have Nothing” — A
Scotty McCreery: “Where Were You
When the Earth Stopped Turning” — B+
Haley Reinhart: “The Earth Song” — B
Lauren Alaina; “Trouble” — B
James Durbin: “Love Potion No. 9” — B
James Durbin: “Don’t Stop Believin'” — B-
Scotty McCreery: “Young Blood” — B-
Lauren Alaina: “Anyway” — C