Idol Chatter & Voice Views

American Idol’s Top 3, Trent Harmon, La’Porsha Renae and Dalton Rapattoni. (FOX Photo)

To put a twist on the Ryan Seacrest catchphrase …

Here we go.

Brighten the lights.

It’s time for the final performance show on American Idol.

And a final set of song-by-song grades.

Of course, before we get to those, Ryan will likely dim the lights to reveal the two contestants who will face off tonight.

I’m hoping it’s Trent Harmon and La’Porsha Renae. I fear it won’t be.

Meanwhile, the Idol singles are already on iTunes and Amazon and available for download. The songs are “Battles” by La’Porsha, “Falling” by Trent and “Strike a Match” by Dalton. The latter sounds most radio friendly.

Hey, we’re going to open the show with a group performance. Nice move, Idol. Last year, Jax was cut before the audience even got to see her. They were singing “We Stole the Show.” Until Ryan appeared, likely the bearer of bad news for one of the three.

Winners’ singles

Trent Harmon: His song is called “Falling.” I can’t really imagine this as a radio hit, but it’s a nice match for Trent’s voice, giving him plenty of chance to show off his range. And his passion. That performance got a little overbaked at one point. But who can fault that falsetto ending? Grade: B+

Dalton Rapattoni: His song is “Strike a Match.” And it does sound radio friendly, as I noted above. OK, is the sound mix messed up on Idol? Or is the band drowning out Dalton that badly? The official recording sounds much better than this. That was not an impressive vocal from Dalton. Grade: C

La’Porsha Renae: Her song is “Battles.” No band is going to drown out La’Porsha. Kudos to the Idol wardrobe department. They have La’Porsha looking great. And she sounds great, doesn’t she? Loved all the little wrinkles she threw into that version of the song. Very nice. I think she takes round one. Grade: A–

And here come the results … Wow, I didn’t remember that all three of these singers auditioned in the same city, Little Rock, home of Season 9 winner Kris Allen.

Making the Top 2 …

La’Porsha Renae.

Trent Harmon.

Wow, voters got it right!!!!

Simon Fuller’s choices:

Trent Harmon: He’ll sing “If You Don’t Know Me by Now.” A bit of a rough start for Trent. If that was the planned opening, it wasn’t smart. Again, a little overbaked. And I didn’t like the fact that Trent didn’t sing the chorus, leaving that to the background singers. Keith predicts this will be the closest race in Idol history. Jennifer calls the performance “amazing.” Harry calls it a “nice job.” Grade: B

La’Porsha Renae: She’ll perform “A House is Not a Home.” Not thrilled with this song choice. I mean, this woman can sing absolutely anything. We’re trying to create moments here, right? La’Porsha still delivers a very, very nice vocal, doing everything with it that she can. But I would have liked a song with a little more energy. Harry loved it. So did Jennifer. Keith calls it beautiful and “smoldering.” Grade: B+

Pressured to make a choice by Ryan, Jennifer says she’d give the round two edge to La’Porsha.

Reprise performances

Trent Harmon: He going to sing Sia’s “Chandelier,” a song we heard him sing what … just two weeks ago? They should have skipped repeat performances on a season this short and had them sing another new song. Shaky opening again for Trent. But once he hit the higher portion of the song, wow. And that was an incredible glory note he hit near the end. Harry calls it “really, really strong.” Keith calls it an “extraordinary performance.” Jennifer says he could not have sung that better. Grade: A–

La’Porsha Renae: Okay, she’ll sing “Diamonds,” a song she performed on Top 10 night. Now this is a song that will show off all of La’Porsha’s strengths. And, wow, she delivers another wonderful version of that song. Loved the growl. Loved the passion. And the crowd is chanting her name, bringing her to tears. Keith calls it “amazing.” Jennifer says she can’t wait to go to a post-Idol concert and watch La’Porsha. Harry loved the performance, too. Grade: A.

Well, there you have it.

The final performance show on Idol.

In my mind, La’Porsha takes the crown. But I won’t be mad if Trent winds up with the title.

One last parting word from the original Idol, who predicted a La’Porsha victory the very first time she heard her sing.

Kelly Clarkson tweets: “I have never voted for anyone on @AmericanIdol not even 4 myself BUT I will be voting for @laporsharenae tonight. I need her future record!”