Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Will they sing one song or will they sing two?

That’s the question I posed to the p.r. folks with American Idol today.

In return, I got an e-mailed press release that had been posted on the Idol Web site since last Thursday, announcing this week’s Rat Pack theme and a guest appearance by Taylor Hicks. And a note that the press release is all the info Idol is releasing at this time.

The press release, of course, didn’t mention the number of songs.

Hmm. I’m sure Idol producers have decided by now, but I can see where this week would pose something of a quandary.

Most seasons, it’s been automatic. The field is narrowed to five contestants, the five contestants sing two songs each the following week.

But this season, Idol has an extra judge. And if the show didn’t finish on time with eight contestants singing and four judges judging … and if it didn’t finish on time with seven contestants singing and two judges judging (that would have been two weeks ago, for those with short memories) …

Well, you can just imagine the time crunch that might result if Idol tried to squeeze 10 songs and 40 critiques into an hour Tuesday night.

And, please, Idol, don’t even think about going back to having each performance reviewed by only half the judges.

On top of that, who can forget what happened last year when Idol tried to hustle through 10 songs in a hour-long show? Remember? Come on, you must?

Poor Paula got so confused she started reviewing a song Jason Castro hadn’t performed yet. Corrected by Ryan, she admitted her confusion and said she was reading her notes wrong. Then she praised David Cook while supposedly reading from the same notes that prompted her to pan Jason.

Ah, yes, it was one of those all-time memorable Idol moments.

And while I’m posing questions, what the heck is up with this Rat Pack theme? Disco wasn’t irrelevant enough? Now we want our Idols to show their artistry by singing songs made famous by Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra?

I read a couple of blogs last week in which the writers complained that there was very little disco in disco night. My reaction: Great. That means our Idols did a wonderful job of taking disco songs and twisting them to fit their musical strengths. Matter of fact, all in all, I was quite entertained last week by the five Idols left standing.

Here’s hoping they can work similar magic with Rat Pack tracks.

The rankings:

5. Matt Giraud (7th last week): Mr. Cool surprised me last week. I graded his performance of “Stayin’ Alive” the second best on disco night. Gee, wasn’t that song title appropriate? Most surprisingly, Matt hit all the high notes. Tuesday’s theme is being served up to Matt like a mid-80s fastball thrown into his wheelhouse. But he’s been wildly inconsistent, so I figure a one-performance format works to his advantage.

4. Danny Gokey (4th last week): I just read an interview in which Simon Cowell supposedly predicted this year’s finale would come down to Danny and Adam Lambert. Huh? Does anyone listen or watch when this guy performs? The statement that follows will not please Gokey fans, but it’s a fact: Last year’s top five finishers were all more original and more talented than Danny, unless he’s been holding back for some reason through the first seven weeks.

3. Kris Allen (2nd last week): Kris gets high marks for originality. But changing the song and making it your own is just half the challenge. It helps if the performance is something folks would want to hear over and over again. That’s what brought David Cook the Idol crown in season seven. I never again want to hear Kris’ take on “All She Wants To Do Is Dance,” and the only thing truly memorable about last week’s rendition of “She Works Hard for the Money” were Paula’s comments after Kris finished singing.

2. Allison Iraheta (3rd last week): This ranking is based entirely on my perception of how well the contestants have done so far this season, not on what I think will happen Tuesday night. Fact is, I think Allison might be in trouble. If Idol is serving up a fastball to Matt’s wheelhouse, they’re throwing a screwball at the rookie in this year’s competition. Thing is, Allison has performed like anything but a rookie to date. Last week, her version of “Hot Stuff” was blistering. And what did it get Allison? A spot in the bottom three.

1. Adam Lambert (1st since the season started): We had seven weeks of finals and I’ve had Adam’s performance ranked as the best of the bunch five times. Last week’s toned-down version of “If I Can’t Have You” was a bit of a snooze coming on the heels of “Mad World” and “Born to be Wild,” but there’s no way, absolutely no way, this guy doesn’t make the finale.