Over the years, Top 3 night has given us some great gems of music. Our friends at What Not to Sing describe it as must-see-TV. However, given how things have turned out, our expectations were muted.

For at least the first half of the show, those low expectations proved right on track. They ranged between the mediocre to the bad. Kris Allen showed the limits of a song that “suited” him: it was so similar to his style, even a good vocal sounded like it was straight out of a karaoke bar. Kris couldn’t do anything to make it more interesting, because to do so would have taken him beyond his vocal ability. This song was something of a booby prize.

Adam Lambert also had a so-so outing with U2’s One. The start was, in our opinion, pretty good. When it started up though… no. It exposed his chief vocal limitation: at times, Adam can sound like he’s shouting the song, not singing it. On the plus side, Adam proved he could actually convey the emotions of a song without resorting to excessively slow ballads or over-the-top acting.

For all the mediocrity in both Adam and Kris’s performances, though, they were miles ahead of Danny. The performance aspects of it – moving about the stage, connecting with the audience, the interplay with the saxophonist – were pretty good. However, it couldn’t cover up the mediocre singing. This is the top three. My standards for a top three performance are pretty high, and this was nowhere near. No range, no power… this was an utter failure as a song.

Things looked up considerably in the second half of the show. Heartless was a remarkably gutsy call by Kris – and not the sign of someone lacking in their artistic abilities. This was the textbook example of making a song your own. His vocals were powerful when they needed to be, controlled when they needed be. This was the song of someone who had nothing left to lose and laid it all out live on the Idol stage. Brilliant.

There was a good song somewhere in Adam Lambert’s Cryin’. However, somewhere along the line it turned into something.. somewhat ordinary. It just didn’t have the overall quality of his past performances. The vocals were again a little too much screamy, the arrangement felt all over the place… it was good, yes, but not much further than that. This did not deserve all the praise it get in our opinion. Adam may have the ability to hit a high note and hold it, but there’s a lot more to music than that, Kara.

As for Danny… You Are So Beautiful was an enormous improvement over Dance Little Sister, but that doesn’t mean it was all that good either. Like his first song, Danny checked off everything needed for a top-notch Idol performance… except singing well. The slower song helped matters there a little, but I’d class it as no more than “decent”. And “decent” isn’t where contestants should be this late into the season.

Like the rest of the season, the Top 3 left us underwhelmed. One of Kris’s songs was brilliant, but the other was well-done copycat karaoke. Adam had an off night – perhaps the shift to multiple solo songs isn’t doing him any favors. Danny was disappointing; his performances were just not up to the standards of a top 3 show.

That’s what we meant: Just over the weekend, I wrote up Part 1 of our Season Post-Mortem and pretty much called out the judges and producers for thinking a little too highly of themselves this year.

Somewhere, the Idol gods must have nodded in agreement and decided to underscore our point by making fools of the judges this week. In a year full of low points for Randy, Kara, Paula, and Simon last night stands out for all the wrong reasons.

Maybe it’s just us, but it seems that the judges used up more time talking about each other than actually critiquing the songs. If the judges have issues backstage that are spilling over to the cameras, please, we really don’t want to hear about it.

Merit versus the bus: If it were just up to merit, this would be a ridiculously easy pick. Danny Gokey has been the very definition of underwhelming, and Kris was the best of the night by far.

However, the top three has been known to produce wacky results. (See: Melinda Doolittle.) Anyone could go home.

In all likelihood, though, it’s down to a Kris-versus-Danny fight. Simon defused the possibility of a surprise Adam boot with his plea for Adam fans to vote. It’s probably enough to keep him safe, although it’s quite likely he’ll be put in the bottom two.

Danny has a fanbase that is a lot stronger than it really deserves to be, based on the quality (or lack of) of his performances. Kris, on the other hand, shone the most last night. It should be a pretty even fight that’d be tough to call… in normal circumstances.

However, there is a catch. As medicore as Danny was, the judges – for the second week in a row – overpraised him. Paula’s song choice was vocally “very, very good”? Really now? And You Are So Beautiful was a “masterpiece”? What are the judges on, because I’d sure as heck like to find some.

With that in mind, it’s clear that Kris’s edge in performance won’t be as big in at least some minds as it ought to be. Danny will be perceived to have two good performances, whereas Kris will have only one.

In the end, when the producers really want a finale, they’ll probably get it. With that in mind…

The Idol Guy pick: Kris Allen to go home.

I’ll be blunt: so far, this season has been something of a hot, wet, mess. Still, though, this was a potentially intruiging final four. There was an interesting mix of genres, they were all pretty good vocally… this could have been a good night.

However, this being American Idol, what could have been rarely is. Such was rock night. It was a very mixed bag, to say the least: it had high points, to be fair – but when it hit the low points, boy were they low.

Unlike previous theme nights where the Idols wandered far and wide from the theme, this week they largely stayed within the confines of rock – which was friendly to Adam and Allison, but dangerous for Kris and Danny.

Adam Lambert had a good night, and that shouldn’t really be much of a surprise. Whole Lotta Love was the typical wild, frenetic, high-energy performance Adam Lambert delivers. With the usual Your Mileage May Vary warnings, Adam did exactly what he set out to do.

However, the Led Zeppelin song wasn’t groundbreaking in any way for Adam. We’ve all seen him with a similar over-the-top performance. However, Slow Ride was an even better performance in our book. Adam has something of a tendency to let the over-the-top theatrics overshadow the music – but that wasn’t the case at all for his duet with Allison.

The same was true with the vocals – without the need to be over the top, I thought it lacked the screechy tendencies Adam can have sometimes. Allison, too, held up her end of the bargain supremely well – if anything, she might have been even better than Adam. Whatever the division of credit, their duet was, by far, the best performance of the night.

As for Allison’s solo performance… I don’t know if it was a good song choice by itself, but considered in context of the duet… it was brilliant. It was a telling contrast from everyone else: she got to show two quite different, but not clashing, faces of herself artistically. It’s a useful – and difficult – trick to pull off on two-song nights, and particularly with a restricted theme as this week seemed to be in practice. The performance itself was pretty good as well – it wasn’t quite the refined perfection Adam delivered earlier, but Allison wanted to show off her more… sensitive, emotional side. And in that, she did admirably well.

From those three good-to-great performances, though, it went sour. Fast. Kris Allen picked a hard song to sing – especially one that called for vocals more powerful than he could actually deliver. It was a good effort, but… no. It didn’t exactly help, either, that Carly Smithson had done this song just last year – and much better.

However, it was better than his duet with Danny. Not only was the song choice bad – it just didn’t fit for either man – they also absolutely zero chemistry with each other on stage. Vocally, Simon was nuts – Danny was his usual shrieky self, and at least Kris kept some control. However, it wasn’t exactly something to be particularly proud of.

Worst of all – by a large margin – was the hot, wet, pile of cow manure that was Dream On. It was more of a nightmare than a dream. Congratulations, Danny Gokey: you’re giving Jasmine Trias a run for her money in the category of Worst Final Four performances ever. That was an outright disaster, one of the worst ones I’ve seen in many years of Idol-watching.

We want to get off this bus: Our friends over What Not to Sing put out their editorial this weekend that talked about how certain contestants at this stage of the show get run over by the 19E bus. They hoped that the bus would stay in the garage this week, but… it was not to be.

The bus came out in full force for Kris. TPTB kicked up the difficulty level so high, Kris stood no chance. I personally find it more than a little suspcious how everyone suddenly decided to hew so closely to rock – a genre Kris normally has no business being in. Putting in duets and saddling Kris with Danny? Saying that Danny was actually better in the duet? Maybe it’s just us, but Kris seemed well aware last night that the bus was going to get him – at most of it was preordained beforehand.

Of course, the bus wasn’t out to get just Kris, but being the biggest roadblock to the producers’ dream of a Gokey-Lambert finale he had to go right away. Kris definitely left the night with tire treads on his jacket.

However, Allison got side-swiped a fair bit as well. She was every bit as good as Adam was – but you wouldn’t know that from the judges. The purpose was clear: pimp Adam, and downplay Allison’s success – preparatory to the bus backing over her next week. They couldn’t slam her too hard, because they want her to get through this week, but not strong enough to interfere with the Lambert-Gokey faceoff.

While the 19E bus was ramming Kris down and side-swiping Allison, it was carrying both Adam and Danny in luxurious comfort. Adam’s praise was mostly well-deserved, but rarely have I seen such kind comments for some of the worst performances of the season to date. Audition rejects would have sung better than Danny Gokey did last night. Danny said something along the lines of his solo being “Not as bad as they thought”. It’s hard to say now who was more divorced from reality – Danny, or the judges.

Sadly, though, despite all the savviness of the Idolsphere, the bus is sadly effective. Kris’s fanbase has been spotty of late, and he didn’t have the performances last night to really save him. He needed a good, standout performance to be safe – and he didn’t get that. Which means, sadly, that…

The Idol Guy pick: Kris Allen to go home.

Normally, there’s at least some consensus about which performanes were good and which were bad. This week, though… that’s not quite possible. There’s a strong degree of Your Mileage May Vary this week. Stronger, perhaps, than any other week in Idol history.

The vocals of the top four were, to be honest, pretty close. The big difference was in how they made use of it – the overall artistry, the personality – etcetera. This was, really, a good test of the overall musical IQ of the contestants. In that category, there was one who clearly stood out.

Of the top four, the best was Allison Iraheta. This was a poised, confident, powerful performance. Her vocals were excellent, the arrangement allowed her to bring her power to bear… as well as a degree of finesse that we haven’t seen from her before. It’s not the usual rock performance that’s expected of Allison, but a little flexibility can sometimes work on Idol. It certainly did for her.

It’s usually Kris Allen who takes a song, slows and strips it down, and makes it work for his vocals – but Danny actually outdid him in that category. I personally liked the slower portion of the song much better than the end – Danny just cannot bring in the power without sounding like he’s shouting. As for Kris, it wasn’t a bad effort, but it didn’t have the special flavor that his best performances have had. Still, it was a respectable showing, and vocally it was pretty good. Very restrained, excellent control – it was a technical masterpiece, but there’s more to good performances than that.

As for Adam, well… I didn’t care too much for the white suit, but then again I tend to associate white suites either with fried chicken or Fantasy Island. That said… it was a typically Adam performance. Over the top, very theatrical, good vocals. However, while the glory note at the end was clearly meant to show off his vocals, but it was more than a bit painful to listen to. Not because it was bad, but because some human ears – ours included – can be a little sensitive.

Worst of the night was, clearly, Matt Giraud. One little bit of advice: it’s probably not a good idea to do a song that was one of Melinda Doolittle’s best performances. It was emotional… but that was about it. The vocals were not up to the task of the rest of the field. Simon thought this was his brilliant? What was he on?

Overall, though, it was a pretty good night. The excessive amount of filler – only five performances in an hour – notwithstanding, it was a worthwhile show. I didn’t care much for the material, to be honest, but there’s no arguing with the quality – Allison was outstanding, Matt wasn’t a complete disaster (about the best you can expect from him right now), and the rest were good, but not really outstanding. We’ll take it, though.

Mr. Cowell, the strings are showing: Favoritism from the judges is a long-standing Idol problem. Rarely, however, was that more on display than this week.

It’s possible to say that Kris and Allison weren’t as good as Adam and Danny.  However, the spin that Simon Cowell put on it was manipulation of the worst kind.

Neither Kris and Allison were favored at the start, and both – particularly Kris – can interfere with the cherished Adam-Danny finale. The judging was a pretty blatant attempt at trying to derail either one early. So, too, was the overpraise for Matt Giraud.

The Idolsphere is on to your shenanigans, Simon. We still haven’t forgotten, say… Syesha Mercado. If you think you can get away with this without any repercussions… you may think so, but there will be consequences.

The obvious pick… maybe?: The main question this week, as far as the picks go, is Matt Giraud. Did he do enough to save himself – or, alternately, will external factors save him?

Normally, this should be an open and shut case. He was definitely not as good as the rest of the field, his fanbase is suspect… there’s no reason he should go.

However… this is Idol-land, where the abnormal is normal. Can you really rule out an exit by Allison or Kris?

This time… probably. All the praise in the world won’t change the fact that Matt was the worst last night. Sure, he wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t as good as the rest.

Also, comments like the one Simon made can backfire. I have more confidence in the strength of Allison’s fanbase than I had a few weeks ago. Yes, she was bottom three last week, but Matt received a huge bounce from his save then. Simon’s comments are just the type that can rally, not depress, a fanbase. In addition, the unfairness of the comments will also help Allison’s vote totals.

These picks are getting trickier as the season goes on, and I would like to keep my excellent prediction record. I’ve only been wrong about the save, but I’ve put the right person in the bottom all season long. For now, though, the pick is…

Matt Giraud to go home.

Conventional Wisdom had it that disco night would not go down well. After all, with the exception of Adam Lambert, none of the group was particularly qualified to handle the… unique aspects of disco music.

As it turned out, however, the whole Top 7 was taking a correspondence course from the Lewis-Cook School of Theme Avoidance. Did anyone really do a straight-up disco night? They didn’t, and that was a great example of musical savviness that we haven’t seen much of this year… up until last night.

Best of the night – surprisingly – was Kris Allen. It was definitely not the standard way to do She Works Hard For the Money – but it worked brilliantly. It was a very relaxed, laid-back vibe to the song that reminded us of of a Jason Castro on good form. As Kara said: it’s hard to believe it was a Donna Summer original. Well done, and perhaps his best performance to date. It’s a pity, though, that the judging was full of references to cross-dressing – which was a distraction, to say the least.

Adam Lambert was supposed to be the best at disco music, but curiously he went back to his restrained self with If I Can’t Have You. It was a good performance – controlled vocals, good job with the emotions… but style-wise it was quite similar to his earlier ballad efforts. (Note: since the Top 11, Adam has always alternated his pace – a fast song one week, then a slow one the next.) Still, overall, a good effort, not what people expected… maybe not what he should have done. It still gets the second best performance of the night, though.

It’s pretty clear that one’s opinion of Allison Iraheta’s Hot Stuff depends on what one thinks of the arrangement. I thought it was okay – though it seemed to have suffered even more than usual at the hands of the Idol editors to fit it in the allotted time. Still, the vocals were in the same league as Adam or Kris, but it just wasn’t as well put together. Great effort, but just a bit short.

Danny wins the dubious award of Most Overpraised performance of the night. It wasn’t a bad performance per se, but all that praise had me wondering if the judges and me were in the same universe. (Except for Simon.) It didn’t sound particularly stand out to me vocally, and the whole performance smacked of extremely well-done karaoke.

Matt Giraud improved over last week… but that’s not saying much. Like Danny, Matt’s version of Stayin’ Alive wasn’t the most original or groundbreaking performance around. It was decent, entertaining… and not much else.

That’s better than could be said for Anoop Desai, though. It was… strange. The vocals weren’t bad per se, it just that it didn’t fit together into a coherent song very well. Like Danny again, this felt like karaoke – except that it wasn’t even good karaoke, with a strange arrangement.

Lil is again occupying the cellar with I’m Every Woman. It wasn’t as execrably bad as some of her other efforts have been, but… this was the most karaoke of karaoke performances. It was a classic case of making up bad singing with energy – but that’s something which just shouldn’t be the case this deep into the competition. Not good enough for any stage of the finals, let alone past the halfway point.

Overall, it was a pretty decent night. The top three really stood out and made their presence felt. They took what might have been a difficult theme and made it work pretty well for them. Even the rest of the field was decent, and even the “bad” performances like Anoop and Lil weren’t utter trainwrecks; they may not have made much sense (musically), but the vocals weren’t decent. This week was the first sign of life this season has seen in a while. (I’ll have more on this for our full-up analysis piece later in the week.)

Double Trouble: Honestly, if you read last week’s ranking this week shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Within reason, those who have been good up to this date stayed good, while those who were bad stayed awful.

The obvious pick to go home is Lil. She was no good this week, and she’s been in the bottom three for two past weeks. It’s time for her to go home.

As for the other slot… it’s either going to be Anoop or Matt. That one is pretty clear. It’s going to be another fanbase battle, and I have to give the advantage to Matt there: his fanbase is probably the most energized in Idol history. Getting saved by the judges produces what is essentially a bottom three bounce writ large.

Anoop, on the other hand, was not as good as Matt (although, to be fair, not a lot separated them), and just as importantly his fanbase has not really been there: even when he’s been good of late he’s ended up in the bottom three. This week, without even the benefit of a good performance to save him… his time is up.

The Idol Guy picks: Anoop and Lil to go home.