Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tuesday night, Idol brings back a Hollywood Night theme that we last saw in season three when Quentin Tarantino served as a guest judge rather than a guest mentor.

It’s another of those pick-your-own-poison type of theme weeks.

Every contestant should be able to find a song that fits their vocal style. Whether or not it’s a good fit from the judges’ viewpoint is another matter altogether.

Back in season three, the theme produced song choices ranging from “Jailhouse Rock” to “Summertime.” The former bought John Peter Lewis a ticket home. The latter bought Fantasia Barrino a moment in Idol history, one of the show’s all-time great performances.

Six weeks in, ranking the remaining Idols is getting easier and easier.

The contestants seem to have split themselves into two groups.

There are the pretenders — Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds — who appear to have virtually no chance of making the finals.

There are the contenders — Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen and Danny Gokey — who have shown the vocal chops to hang around for a few more weeks.

Then, of course, there’s Adam Lambert, who is doing to season eight what Fantasia did to season three, sucking all the suspense out of the show because it’s so obvious that he should win.

Here are the rankings:

7. Matt Giraud (7th last week): The judges must see something in Matt that I don’t. Whether he’s wearing a fedora or sitting behind the keyboards, it all just seems so ordinary. I’m still waiting for the week he makes me say, “Ah, that’s why he was a wild card pick.” So far, I’ve seen wild card dud. Oh, where are you Ricky Braddy?

6. Lil Rounds (5th last week): Wow, the judges sure were harsh with Lil last week. Not that she didn’t deserve it after what Simon appropriately dubbed a third-rate imitation of Tina Turner. Lil left Hollywood as the most touted female singer in the competition. She’s fallen far short of expectations.

5. Anoop Desai (6th last week): This must be a nerve-wracking week for Anoop. He took a gamble by singing a Cyndi Lauper song last week. It could have been a disaster. It wasn’t. Fact is, he pulled it off pretty well and got decent reviews from the judges. And he was still the second lowest vote-getter and just 30,000 votes shy of heading home.

4. Danny Gokey (3rd last week): Given his backstory and his penchant for picking inspirational songs, it will be a shock if Danny sings anything besides “My Heart Will Go On” (the theme from “Titanic”) Tuesday night. Last week, even Simon joined the gaga for Gokey gang. I just have trouble envisioning this guy as a post-Idol pop star.

3. Allison Iraheta (4th last week): Now that she has Simon’s instructions on how to be likeable tucked into her hip pocket, I’m sure Allison will sail right through the competition. Just joking. I still fear Allison is the contestant most likely to need a judges’ save in the near future. I also still believe Allison is the contestant most deserving of a judges’ save. We need her around to keep Idol from becoming a male soul-pop snoozer loser of a show.

2. Kris Allen (2nd last week): Electric guitar + jazz arrangement + Don Henley equaled a step backward for Kris last week. But the fact that he avoided the final three despite an off week is an indication that the voters have taken a liking to this 23-year-old from Conway, Ark. Hey, Allison, a piece of advice: If you want tips on being likeable, I’d go to Kris, not Simon.

1. Adam Lambert (1st since week one): How in the world will Adam top last week’s performance of “Mad World?” That’s the first performance all year that I’ve been tempted to download. Of course, it’s also the fourth time in five weeks I’ve graded his performance as the best among the finalists, so he doesn’t necessarily have to top “Mad World” to turn in the best performance Tuesday night.