Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jennifer Lopez’s new album, “Love?” came out Tuesday. I’m sure we’ll hear a lot about that on American Idol this week.

In fact, tomorrow night, instead of being treated to a performance by a former Idol, we’ll watch Jennifer perform her “On the Floor” single.

Of course, we were already treated to the premiere of the video for the song during the Idol semifinals.

Meanwhile, Steve Tyler has released a book, “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?”

And next week, his first solo video, “(It) Feels So Good,” will be aired on the Idol results show, meaning we’ll probably be cheated out of a performance by a returning Idol again.

I guess it’s only natural that judges on American Idol use their reclaimed fame to future their careers, musical and otherwise.

And it probably wouldn’t bother me as much if they were doing the job they were paid to do — judge the Season 10 contestants and help us judge them instead of fawning over their every performance week after week after week.

Last week, Jimmy Iovine made a rather bold statement: It’s time to stop judging each Idol contestant against his or her previous performances. It’s time to start judging them against one another. Because someone’s going to come out on top.

I took that as a sort of challenge to the Idol judges. So it will be interesting to see if anything changes tonight.

Of course, I expected the judges to start judging something after the well-deserved criticism they got after Pia Toscano’s elimination.

Not a thing changed.

By the way, Steven, I could care less about the noise in your head, but the crap coming out of your mouth on Idol does bother me.

And, as an aside, Jennifer’s album was number five on the iTunes sales chart when I checked at about 7 p.m. EST. That’s two spots below Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album “Rumors,” which has been discounted to $7.99. And one spot above the just-released album from Stevie Nicks, which I find far more intriguing.

Oh, well, let’s get to the contestants, who will be singing songs from Then and Now tonight. That means one current tune and one from the 1960s.

Another guest mentor on this year without mentors. Oh, well, I prefer Sheryl Crow to will.i.am. By the way, she contributed big time to the last album Stevie Nicks released. Full circle, huh? And you thought that Stevie Nicks reference had nothing to do with American Idol.

The song by song grades:

* James Durbin: His song choice — “Closer to the Edge” by 30 Seconds to Mars. OK, the opening is so soft, I can’t hear James over the music. Now he picks up the volume and, unfortunately, seems off key. Now comes the weekly James shriek. Followed by more vocals that didn’t seem quite on pitch. Another fun performance from James. You’ve got to give the guy credit for his energy on stage. But I have to say, that was one of my least favorite James’ vocals. Steven and Jennifer loved it. Randy proclaimed James is “in it to win it.” Can someone please ban him from saying that! Grade: C.

Jacob Lusk: Interesting, Jacob has decided to tackle Jordin Sparks’ “No Air,” a duet she recorded with Chris Brown. Interesting. Sorry, Jacob has already lost me with this opening. And if he didn’t lose me with the over-the-top vocals, he would with these moves. What the heck? We haven’t seen too many songs reworked dramatically this year. That was pretty dramatically reworked. And it absolutely did not work. Randy is actually criticizing the performance. Way to go, Randy. Of course, Steven can’t bring himself to do the same. Shame. Steven is entertaining, but he’s absolutely worthless as a judge on this show. Grade: D

Lauren Alaina: Another Idol contestant sings an Idol song, Carrie Underwood’s “Flat on the Floor.” Lauren looks great and lots more confident tonight. Problem is, she’s singing Carrie Underwood. And I’m pretty sure if you play that version alongside the Carrie Underwood, it’s not going to come off well. Brave, but not wise. A good vocal, but not great. And not nearly as great as her reviews from the judges. Grade: B-

Scotty McCreery: Ryan, quit calling him Scotty the Body. Anyway, Scotty will sing “Gone.” Compared to Jacob’s entrance, I love this one. Prancing through the audience pitch perfect. And, look at this, Scotty is delivering some rock, country style. Looks like he’s learned some lessons from watching James Durbin perform, too. That ending was just a little corny. But all in all, that was a fun, fun performance with a spot-on vocal. Steven proclaims that Scotty was “dancing with the devil,” adding “that’s a good thing for you.” Easily the best so far. Grade: A

Haley Reinhart: This should be interesting. She’s singing an unreleased Lady Gaga song that Jimmy presented to her. The song is “You and I,” and she’s singing it with Gaga’s blessing. Great opening by Haley. Love the tone to her voice. Well, I’m not sure if it was an Idol moment. But I think Haley’s proven to be a lot more polished and a lot more talented than anyone expected at the start of this show. Jennifer didn’t like the song choice. Neither did Randy. Steven tells Haley she’s “one perfect song from being an Idol American.” Dang judges. Haley was better than James, Jacob and Lauren in round one. Grade: B.

Round two

James Durbin: He’s singing “Without You” in the second round, a song that brought out his emotion because he’s missing his son and fiancee. OK, you could sense his emotion on that song. And I’m sure he’ll get through to the next round. But, again, I did not love the vocal. And I’m pretty sure that song did not need a shriek. Randy proclaims that the competition is his to lose, despite what he admits was an imperfect vocal. Steven calls it “pitchy but beautiful.” Grade: C+

Jacob Lusk: He’s going to sing what? Nazareth? Are you kidding me? Love Hurts, perhaps? If so, I’m pretty sure this is going to hurt my ears. Sure enough, he’s going to sing “Love Hurts.” OK, this isn’t exactly showing a rock side, Ryan. It’s not a rock song. Jacob’s going crazy with the vocal histrionics again. As soon as I think he’s going to deliver a soft, sensitive vocal, he’s runs the train right off the track. This is an absolute train wreck. And he’s getting positive reviews for that performance. These judges are totally clueless. Grade: F

Lauren Alaina: Her second song will be “Unchained Melody,” which she says is her mom and dad’s song. I think we’re going to get another of those fine, but not superlative performances from Lauren. The big note on “mine” went way too sharp the first time around. Now she’s going to semi-growl near the end of this love song. Another Lauren performance that fine, but falls way short of special. Grade: C+

Scotty McCreery: He’s returning to a favorite artist of his, singing Elvis Presley’s “Always on My Mind.” OK, I don’t know about your station, but mine just cut to commercial and returned after Scotty has already started his song. Oh, well, like James, Scotty is going nowhere this week but ahead to the final four. It’s a shame he ended on this performance instead of “Gone.” This wasn’t as much fun. It was what we’ve come to expect from Scotty. A fine vocal. But a little boring compared to some of what we’ve seen tonight. Grade: B

Haley Reinhart: Come on, Haley. She’s got the showcase spot on tonight’s show, and she’ll be singing The Animals’  “House of the Rising Sun.” An a cappella opening for Haley. And then she launches into seductive Haley mode as the background music kicks in. Now that sounded like a song Haley was born to sing. Wonderful vocal, perfectly suited to her voice. Randy calls that the performance of the night. A million dollar smile and a voice like that: It’s called marketable. Grade: A