Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The performance shows are the big draw when American Idol is on TV.

Except for this week, when the performance show plays second fiddle to Wednesday’s two-hour Idol Gives Back Special (8 p.m. on FOX).

Past Idol champs David Cook and Kris Allen will demonstrate the dire need for assistance in Ethiopia and Haiti, respectively.

Country music Entertainer of the Year Carrie Underwood will be back to perform. Annie Lennox, Elton John and the Black Eyed Peas will take the stage.

And one of our Idol contestants will go home. Idol executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz promised. Just last Thursday.

If so, it will mark an Idol first. Three years ago, Idol declined to eliminate someone in the spirit of the occasion. Two years ago, Idol Gives Back was a stand-alone special.

Speaking of eliminations, don’t look now, but the Year of the Girl on Idol is fizzling.

Five ousters in, only one male, Andrew Garcia is gone. And, suddenly, no one seems to be talking about an Idol finale pitting Crystal Bowersox and her guitar against Siobhan Magnus and her scream.

Here are this week’s ranking. Last week’s ranking appears in parenthesis.

1. Crystal Bowersox (1): Five weeks into the finals, this season is looking much like season eight, in which one performer was clearly superior to the rest of the field. Of course, that performer (Adam Lambert) didn’t win season eight. So far, it’s impossible to argue anyone but Crystal Bowersox deserves to be Idol champ in season nine.

2. Lee DeWyze (4): I read that oddsmakers are predicting a Crystal-Lee finale. As long as Lee keeps the Lennon-McCartney Week bagpiper under wraps — that was just bizarre — he’s my pick among the guys. Best buddy Andrew Garcia got bumped last week, which should give Lee extra inspiration. And he’s coming off one of his best performances.

3. Casey James (2): Just when I start taking Casey seriously as a contender on this show, he pulls a “Lawdy, Miss Claudy.” It came across as a middle-of-the-set throw-away number at a crowded bar on a Friday night, when Idol was clearly hoping for an Elvis night show-closing showstopper from a guy who should have been able to deliver.

4. Michael Lynche (3): So Idol made Big Mike stand center stage with Katie Stevens, not knowing whether he was going to be eliminated or not, when he wasn’t even among the lowest three vote-getters last week? Ryan Seacrest is lucky he didn’t get a big bear hug from Big Mike for that little pressure-filled ploy. Meanwhile, it’s time for Michael to shelve the his sensitve side for a while and dust off that big personality.

5. Tim Urban (6): Inspiration Week should fall right into the wheelhouse for Mr. Zero-to-Hero. After all, he describes himself as a Christian / acoustic / alternative artist on MySpace. Watch out, contestants above. While you take two steps forward and one step back, Tim seems to have discovered the secret to Idol success. That winning smile sure helps.

6. Siobhan Magnus (5): Not knowing what to do to please Idol judges at this point, Siobhan decided to do everything in her disjointed version of “Suspicious Minds” last week. The result: A performance that showed the potential to be something special wound up turning into a screamfest. She’s still the Magnificent Screamer, but it’s starting to look like that won’t carry her much farther.

7. Aaron Kelly (7): He’s never really bad. He’s never really memorable. And it was slightly odd watching the Sonestown teen with the country twang prance through “Blue Suede Shoes” last week. Dust off an inspirational country song, Aaron. This week, you’d better be memorable.