Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Dalton Rapattoni and MacKenzie Bourg perform together on last week’s American Idol. (FOX Photo0

Here’s a suggestion for American Idol: Ditch the duets.

Seriously, folks, we’ve had three nights of duets on the show so far in Season 15. And they’ve been so far from special … well, it just isn’t making for a very special Season 15.

Last week Trent Harmon and LaPorsha Renae were fabulous on “See You Again.” But then things went downhill fast.

Then there’s this. The Voice just aired its first two nights of the battle rounds. Want to hear some fantastic duets from singing show competitors, go listen to those.

Any comparison between the two shows would be embarrassing for Idol. So if more duets are on tap for tonight, a last-minute audible might be the wiser route. Heck, while not let guest star Adam Lambert perform a mini-show instead of just one song.

Meanwhile, we’re down to a bottom six after two weeks of double elimination.

That means only one singer goes home each week from this point on.

Whether or not that means the end of the judges meddling with the results … well, I guess we’ll find out Thursday.

Trent Harmon moves up two spots in this week’s American Idol ratings. (FOX Photo)

1. La’Porsha Renae: Every week, she steps on stage and deliver the night’s best vocal. Last week, she did just what the judges asked, ditching diva mode and rocking out on “Come Together.” I mean, is there any question at all about who should win Season 15?

2. Dalton Rapattoni (2): In terms of staging, he was at the center of last week’s most interesting performance. And he served up a big ending. That should be enough to buy Dalton another week on Idol even if the vocal wasn’t win worthy.

3. Trent Harmon (5): Who cares about hats and scarves and wardrobe, Jennifer? I don’t. Not when Trent 2.0 has turned in two of his best performances in the past two weeks. Which is precisely why he jumps two spots in this week’s rankings. Going toe to toe with La’Porsha on that duet was pretty impressive, too.

4. Sonika Vaid (4): A smart song choice — much smarter than those from the past two weeks — would help ensure we get to hear Sonika’s angelic voice for at least one more week. Another song choice like “I Have Nothing” and — well, she’ll deserve to go home.

5. MacKenzie Bourg (3): Between his Voice experience and his fine original music, I expected much, much more from MacKenzie. He’s been OK, he just hasn’t been special. And with La’Porsha around, OK should not be nearly enough to win Season 15. He’s the guy most in need of a breakthrough performance this week.

6. Tristan McIntosh (7): She’s been much improve the past two weeks because she’s stuck to her forte — ballads. And I won’t be at all surprised if she hangs around longer than a couple of names above her on this list, even if she needs more seasoning to be Idol ready. She’s attracted more followers on Twitter than everyone but Dalton and MacKenzie, both of whom had a big fan base from their pre-Idol days.