Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Week after week, Idol just keeps the changes coming.

Thirteen finalists. The judges’ save. Critiques by only half the judges to save time.

And now: Duets in the finals.

Look, I loved that performance by Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert. Wonderful way to close the show.

And I hope it helps both in Tuesday night’s voting because they are the contestants I consider most worthy of a spot in the finale.

But was it fair?

How did the two contestants best suited to the rock genre wind up singing together, on the final song of the night?

Just a thought.

Meanwhile, how about Adam Lambert? Regardless of last week’s next-to-last finish, I never doubted Adam is the most talented of this year’s finalists. He proved it again during Tuesday’s show.

Here’s the recap.

Best of the night: I was a little worried when Adam Lambert paused on a “Whole Lotta Love,” thinking the song might be over and wondering where that special Lambert moment was. Then he launched into that ending. And, like Simon said, the only bad thing about it was that the best performance of the night was the first of the night.

Deserves to go home: Kris Allen got two chances to shine last night and didn’t do it. He was terribly off key during the solo portion of his duet with Danny Gokey; then offered nothing special during his solo performance of The Beatles’ “Come Together.” And nothing special is often the kiss of death at this point in the competition.

Please save her: I so wish Allison Iraheta had chosen something else for her solo performance. There were thousands of rock songs performed by male leads that she could have done without risk of being compared to the original. Instead, she sang a Janis Joplin tune, just like Janis, but not as well. Here’s hoping that final duet with Adam, and her newfound spunk in chatting with the judges pulls her through.

Surprise of the night: I didn’t know it was humanly possible to shriek as badly as Danny Gokey did at the end of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” Time and again, Idol finalists try to sing a Stephen Tyler song. It seldom turns out well. That said, I liked Danny’s rock performance better than the one by Kris.

Best line of the night from the judges: Simon to Kris, after his solo performance, “It was rather like eating ice for lunch in that it will leave you with nothing to remember afterward.”

Prediction for Wednesday: I see the voters racing to the phones to keep Adam safe this week. Danny hasn’t been in the bottom three all year, so I figure he’s safe. That leaves us wth Kris and Allison. Based on last night’s performances, Kris should be the one leaving the show.

The song-by-song grades:

Adam Lambert — “Whole Lotta Love” — A
Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta — “Slow Ride” — A-
Allison Iraheta — “Cry Baby” — B
Danny Gokey — “Dream On” — B
Kris Allen — “Come Together” — B-
Kris Allen and Danny Gokey — “Hangman” — B-