Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Well, we now know who should win American Idol in season eight: Adam Lambert.

So says Simon Cowell, who praised Adam during an appearance on Oprah Monday afternoon.

Now, I don’t argue with his assessment. I’ve been saying the same thing since the first week of the finals. I mean, it’s pretty clear.

But I’m also not so sure I like an Idol judge predicting a winner on a popular talk show with two weeks of competition left.

Especially when all the Idol contestants are under a strict gag order. Just ask the finalists who leave the show, or the semifinalists who left the show weeks ago. They’ll all tell you the same thing. They’re forbidden against talking about current contestants, and that includes predicting a winner.

But I guess Simon’s exempt from such rules.

Here goes Week 10, where we get to hear two songs from each contestant (down from three last year at this point in the competition). One will be the choice of the judges. One will be the choice of the contestants.

And Paula has chosen “Dance Little Sister” as a song for Danny Gokey. OK, Danny opens the show with a lot of energy, and I liked the part where Danny and the sax player played off each other. But it sounded like Danny was shouting for the first half of the song. Let’s face it, I’m not just a huge fan of Danny’s voice. Grade: B-

Kris Allen will be singing “Apologize,” chosen by Kara and Randy, and he’s playing the piano. For the first time? Can’t quite remember, but he hasn’t done it often. Nice song choice for Kris. That might have been his best vocal in weeks. A little off on the high note, but otherwise, very, very nice. Grade: B+

Meanwhile, all this bickering between the judges is getting old. The show is about the contestants, guys and gals, remember. Besides, if you keep up at this rate, the show is never going to finish on time.

Adam Lambert will be singing “One” by U2. OK, there’s no doubting Adam is an incredible vocalist. He just sang rings against the other two guys in round one. The opening was brilliant. But the second half of the song seemed a little overblown. Not one of my favorite Adam performances. But I agree with Simon. It will be a crime if he’s not in the finale. Grade: A-

Danny Gokey’s choice of a song is “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker. Danny seemed to be on the right track there toward a winning moment. But why did he have to start shouting again halfway through the song. Kara called it “stunning;” Paula says it “left us all breathless.” I don’t know. I guess I’m just not afflicted by the Gokey magic. Grade: B

Kris Allen will singing “Heartless.” And he’s back with his guitar doing it as an acoustic number. Wow, that was even better than Kris’ first performance. Kris has bounced back strong tonight, reminding us why he was labeled a dark horse weeks ago. Randy said he liked that version better than the original. Grade: A

Adam Lambert is going to be singing “Cryin'” by Aerosmith. OK, if there’s anyone who can sing this song as well as Stephen Tyler, it’s Adam. That’s probably the best version of an Aerosmith song we’ve heard on the Idol stage. Again, a little overblown. But, hey, it’s a minor complaint when you can sing like that. Grade: A-