Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Last week, I suggested American Idol post performance videos of its semifinalists on americanidol.com.

It would be a wonderful way, I noted, for viewers to get to know the contestants as singers.

After all, on Idol we only see partial, edited portions of their performances. We barely see some contestants at all.

Guess what?

There are now performance videos at americanidol.com.

Not all of the performances, but a very telling one — each singer’s final solo performance for the judges, the performance that preceded the march down the so-called Green Mile.

The show didn’t send out the notice that these videos were available until after 6 p.m. EST last night.

Which is unfortunate, since the guys started singing at 8 p.m. and voting for the guys began immediately after the show.

But there’s still time to watch those final solo performances before the ladies sing tonight. Go here to watch.

Use them to help decide whom you vote for after tonight’s show.

Because I still say it’s unfair to base the fate of so many contestants on a single performance.

Meanwhile, kudos to Idol for a small step in the right direction.

Next year, I’d love to see all the performances posted online — the auditions, the group performance in Hollywood, the solo performance in Hollywood and the group performance in Vegas.