Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The American Idol Top 4, MacKenzie Bourg, Dalton Rapattoni, Trent Harmon and La’Porsha Renae. (FOX Photo)

Hard to believe we’re just a week away from the final American Idol finale.

But the Top 3 will take the stage tonight, singing a song selected by the judges, a song selected by Idol mentor Scott Borchetta and a hometown dedication of their choosing.

Will Trent Harmon’s recent surge be enough to upset La’Porsha Renae?

Will Dalton Rapattoni’s excellent show-closer from last week be enough to buy him another week on the show?

The Top 3 will be revealed, but not before we get to see recaps of all those homecoming trips and each singer performs a hometown dedication.

Photo gallery of MacKenzie Bourg’s trip home
Photo gallery of Dalton Rapattoni’s trip home
Photo gallery of La’Porsha Renae’s trip home
Photo gallery of Trent Harmon’s trip home

1. MacKenzie Bourg: He’ll sing “Hallelujah.” Hmm, this has been done 1 million times on singing shows. Well, MacKenzie did a fine job with an excellent song. No doubt it was a performance filled with emotion. Keith calls it “such a great song for you.” Jennifer called it a “really strong performance” and “classic MacKenzie.” Harry calls it a “powerful performance.” Grade: B

2. Dalton Rapattoni: He’ll sing “Calling You” by Blue October. Interesting. It was a high-energy performance, and the soft opening wasn’t too bad. But when the band kicked in, Dalton’s voice nearly disappeared at times. Not sure that was a great hometown dedication pick. Jennifer thinks that performance showed more “freedom.” Huh? Harry liked the arrangement. Keith calls it “really, really good.” Grade: C.

3. Trent Harmon: His hometown dedication will be “Tennessee Whiskey.” Sorta odd song for a hometown dedicaiton. But I won’t complain that way Trent is sounding on it. And he dares to go a capella on a couple of lines. Very nice. My favorite vocal of the night so far. Harry calls it a “fantastic performance.” Keith calls the song choice a “bullseye.” Jennifer says Trent is hitting his stride at the right time. Grade: B+

4. La’Porsha Renae: Her hometown dedication will be “Glory.” Two lines into this song, I’m going to tell you: It will be a crime if the finale isn’t La’Porsha versus Trent. She delivers another excellent vocal. Dang, that glory note. Not sure that was my favorite La’Porsha, but she has a heck of a powerful voice. Keith says he felt like “I just had a baptism.” Jennifer calls it a “great performance.” Harry says he “loved it.” Grade: B+

And now we find out who is being eliminated tonight. Advancing to next week …

Trent Harmon makes the Top 3.

Dalton Rapattoni makes the Top 3.

La’Porsha Renae makes the Top 3, but was in the bottom two.

That means MacKenzie goes home.

Second round

1. Dalton Rapattoni: Scott Borchetta is asking him to perform “Dancing in the Dark.” In Dalton-izing the Bruce Springsteen tune, Dalton gave us a deadly boring opening, a hyper second half, and a questionable vocal. But it will probably do very well with his voting base. Jennifer called it “awesome.” Harry compliments him for connecting with the audience. Keith says he did really well. Grade: B–

2. La’Porsha REnae: And Scott’s pick for La’Porsha is “Stay with Me Baby,” a song he predicts will create an Idol moment, though she wasn’t thrilled with it when first approached. La’Porsha is delivering her usual master class vocal, but I wasn’t thrilled with the song choice. La’Porsha explains: She says she didn’t like the idea of begging a guy to stay with her. But, apparently, they made her sing it anyway. All the coaches agree she slayed it vocally. Grade: B+

3. Trent Harmon: Scott will have Trent sing “Drink You Away” by Justin Timberlake. Is this a trend with Trent tonight — drinking songs? If so, he should have stopped with one, because this is a mess. I mean, Trent poured everything he could into the song, but it’s not a performance I’d want to watch or hear again. Jennifer says Trent is singing for the win. Harry and Keith loved it too. Grade: C+

Judges’ picks

1. Dalton: The judges have picked Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” He starts the performance in the crowd, sorta stumbling toward the stage as he greets fans. As a performer, Dalton’s clearly found his groove on the Idol stage. It isn’t a groove I’m in love with, but clearly lots of folks are. The vocal wasn’t that great. Both Keith and Jennifer thought he sang it in too low a key. Harry says it wasn’t his strongest performance. Grade: C+

2. La’Porsha: Harry says the judges wanted to throw a challenge her way, so they’ve given her “Hello” by Adele. Another solid vocal from La’Porsha, who showed off her entire bag of tricks. I was surprised there wasn’t a little more emotion. Jennifer likes the fact that is stretched her range. Harry was too distracted by holding La’Porsha’s daughter to provide a critique. Keith loved it. Grade: B

3. Trent: And Trent will sing “Waiting Game.” Hey, really nice song choice. And Trent is doing remarkably well with it. Once again, it’s a song that allows him to show off his range. Nice understated ending too. Jennifer says she has goosies and calls it “so beautiful.” Harry calls it a “beautiful performance.” Grade: A–