Some horrible accident befell the stage prior to the show starting, so none of the Idols had a proper run-through beforehand. That's interesting, although I don't think it really affected anything. And in addition to their solo songs, the Final Four performed duets for the same time. I've always felt they should do something like that, so I was glad to see it.
It was rock night - why did we wait so long for this genre? A legitimately contemporary genre? Even though the focus was on classic rock songs, all of the picks were more recognizable to the American audience than what we've heard on most of the recent theme nights. The mentor was guitar legend Slash, who I don't believe has ever sung (I could be wrong about that). The brief clips they showed with him meeting with the kids at the club suggested that he was largely useless as a mentor, so I fear he destroyed his remaining rock credibility for no reason. Also, I beat him on Guitar Hero, so he's kind of not that big a deal. (I kid, I kid.)
Adam Lambert was up first, singing "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin. A good song choice for him, totally in his pocket. Adam looked like Elvis mixed with Rob Halford; the jacket didn't do much for me. I couldn't understand a word he said in the second verse, which is not a problem I usually have with him. I found that the band mitigated his screeching quite a bit. The part when he went a cappella was an "Idol moment," for sure. Kara had a good point when she suggested that this type of music is the album he should make - glam rock/classic rock from the 70s. It's so naturally operatic, it suits him very well. Kara has gotten a lot of criticism lately - some massively publicized poll resulted with a vast majority or respondents saying they wanted her off the show - but seriously, I like her. I think she brings a lot to the panel. Why not get rid of Randy, who just trots out the same useless clichs every week?
Allison Iraheta "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin. Allison's weave looked pretty good - because she went to Adam's hair girl. A note to Allison, and all women: always listen to the gays when it comes to your hair. You will never be led astray. Another smart song choice - Allison naturally sounds like Janis with that gritty, big voice. The thing about Allison is that she has incredible control over her vocals, and she totally commits herself to every performance. She's probably the best young performer we've had on this show. (Note, however, that it came out this week that she's won a singing competition before, some Spanish-language show, so she has a bit of an edge.) Simon dinged her for sounding too much like Janis Joplin, but I don't think she was putting on airs. I think that's the way Allison would legitimately sing that song.
Kris & Danny dueted on "Renegade" by Styx. The two of them sounded great when they sang together. The song is kind of terrible. I think they both held their own, neither of them really came out on top. Danny probably put more into the song emotionally, but Kris probably sounded better on the vocals. All in all, though, it was a fun little experiment. I agreed with Kara (again) that it's kind of funny that the two straight-laced squares sang a song called "Renegade."
Kris Allen "Come Together" by The Beatles. I wasn't jazzed about the song choice. There's not a lot of range there, and the guitar riff is kind of the most important part of the song. Plus, I'm kind of sick of The Beatles at this point. I thought Kris' changes to the middle of the song were ambitious, but I'm not sure they ultimately paid off. I'd certainly put it third of the three performances so far. I agree with Paula (uh oh) that he's an artist - probably the most viable artist, but not necessarily singer - left in the bunch.
Danny Gokey "Dream On" by Aerosmith. Another smart song choice, although Danny sounded a little flat throughout the beginning. He got it together come the chorus and sounded good - his voice had some grit and character but still sounded wonderful on the soaring notes. The scream at the end sounded better in his rehearsal with Slash, but it was still passable. That has to be killer on his vocals. Not sure what he was going with the outfit. He looked like he was cater-waitering for Grape Ape's latest social function.
Adam & Allison dueted on "Slow Ride" by Foghat. Adam's pants were totally confronting; he looked like some goth watermelon and they left nothing to the imagination. Allison held her own on the stage with Adam, which I wasn't necessarily expecting, and they seemed to have a lot of fun and sounded great. I really enjoyed these duets! Why can't we do those during the interminable results show instead all of the terrible filler?
Tomorrow night: Man, tough call. I really think this is probably the best Final 4 this show has EVER had. None of them performed poorly, and all of them are very talented performers. I think Kris is almost certainly in the bottom 2. And probably Allison, too, but Gokey could join him. Adam's near-death experience last week could not have come at a better time for him, as he'll sail all the way to the finals at this point. If I had to bet I'd say that Kris might go home. Boo.