The Final 3 got to sing two songs each, one selected by the judges, one selected by themselves. First up, Paula chose "Dance Little Sister" by Terence Trent D'arby for Danny Gokey. That is the most random song choice ever. The only TTD song I've ever heard is "Wishing Well." Gokey looked good, but the song sucked. It's all screaming and upper register, and the lyrics were completely inane. I mean, more inane than usual for this show. At one point Danny did a scat call-and-response bit with a saxophonist. That's how useless the song was. Given how frequently the judges bitch at the contestants for song choice, there's something deliciously ironic about Paula making one of the worst song choices in the history of the show. But I will say that, even though the song sucked, Danny really threw himself into it. And while it didn't necessarily sound great, he had a ton of energy and got the crowd into it. And then Paula and Simon got into an actual physical fight, which we did not get to see, but heard screams from off-camera. What. The. Fuck?

Kara and Randy got to choose for Kris Allen, and they picked "Apologize" by One Republic. Did everybody notice how much thicker Kris's accent was when he was home in the South? Total non sequitir: My friends and I always sing the chorus to this song as "It's too late to go to Jines." I dare you to not hear that every time the song comes on the radio now. I didn't think this would be a good a song choice for Kris, but he sang it really well, even if he did a pretty straight version of it. His falsetto was a little weak in parts, and he sounded a touch flat in the beginning, but he was quite emotive, and certainly it was more memorable than Danny's song. (I still don't know WTF Paula was thinking there.) I agreed with Kara, that I wish he had interpreted the song a bit more. That, of course, sparked a little bit of a row between Kara and Simon, in which Simon said that Kara and Randy screwed Kris by picking a song and then expected him to do something different with it. What was going on with the judges this episode? They were at each others' throats, so much so that the contestants became almost secondary. I think Simon needs to get laid. All that said, I want hair pulling by the finale.

Simon got to pick for Adam Lambert, and he chose "One" by U2. And Simon had to call Bono to get permission for Adam to sing it. Well, let's not stack the deck too much in any one contestant's favor, Show. I mean you have U2 vs. One Republic vs. freaking Terence Trent D'Arby? Yea gods. Adam looked particularly elfish due to his ear monitors. He did a very soft, laid-back intro to it, and I think that was the best part of the song. It was lovely. And then he proceeded to oversing the living shit out of the remainder of it. It was just too much for me. He sang it well, but it got so damned screechy - I prefer when Adam remains in control of his voice and tone. But America will love it, without question. He certainly performed the song, which I appreciated. And then Adam went on to inform America that the lyrics to "One" are really beautiful and moving. Well, thanks for that newsflash...

"Idol Gives Back" update. I'm torn on this project. On the one hand, I am all for helping people in need, and you'd have to be a cold bastard to not be moved by hearing the stories of the 3000 African kids who die every day from malaria. (Is that accuate?) So seeing how the mosquito nets bought via the program helped people, that was fantastic. However, the package was essentially a commercial for Exxon Mobil - its logo was even branded at the end. And that's my issue with "Idol Gives Back." In the two years they did the show it essentially became infomercials for these multimillion dollar corporations, who I'm sure gave significant sums to the program, but who were also getting incredibly valuable advertising real estate in the process. How is that charity, exactly? That was a business expense at best, and incredibly cynical public relations move at worst. Simultaneously the program berated blue-collar America into open its pockets and give whatever it could. And again: all about charity. Go charity! But when huge conglomerates are screwing over this country left and right (**cough cough** FORD **cough cough**), I have a problem with us acting as though they're somehow being noble by getting involved with the "Idol Gives Back" program while they got a huge ad buy out of it while some poor middle-class family gave up their pizza money for the week. Anyway, all that to say, I'm glad I didn't have to suffer through the actual "Idol Gives Back" program this year.

Contestant's Choice, Danny Gokey, "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker. He gave it an uplifting, gospel spin, and took some liberties with the melody, and it will hit his voting block right where it needs to. He was trying really hard with the emoting, but I found it difficult to believe the sentiment behind it. That said, his falsetto has never sounded better, and he set it off nicely with his stronger lower register and his very well executed vocal runs at the end. It was probably his best vocal of the competition.

Kris Allen chose "Heartless" by Kanye West. That's...interesting. Still less random than Paula's pick for Gokey, but still...interesting. I don't particularly like the original. That is to say, I dislike it intensely. But Kris turned it into a jangly little plaintive number with a bit of funk added to it, and I think it was freaking outstanding. He played with dynamics, his guitar sounded great, and he definitely interpreted the song. And also, he can sing, while Kanye cannot, so I think this may be the first and only song of the season I'll download from iTunes. Kara called it fearless, and I wouldn't go that far, but it was pretty ballsy to do a Kanye song, and do it better than Kanye. Kris needs to watch out. That bitch will sic the Pink Mafia on wee Kris in seconds.

Adam Lambert chose "Crying" by Aerosmith. If Alicia Silverstone's not involved, I'm not interested. To me it was overdone again, and dissonant, and just a really strange song choice to leave America with going into the finals. There was a point toward the middle where he sounded just terrible, and then he started in with the shrieking. This was easily the worst of the six numbers of the night. Sorry, Adam Nation, but that's my take. What a bad time to make such a poor song choice. Randy said it was even better than "One." Come on. Simon made a very strategic plea to the viewers to not assume that Adam's safe, which was essentially his "Let's not have another Chris Daughtry situation on our hands, people." And I appreciate that, because Adam does deserve to make the finals given his collective performances. But I maintain that his "Crying" was pretty embarrassing.

Predictions: Wow, this is a tough call. Gokey performed solidly in both numbers, but his highs weren't as high nor his lows as low as the other two. Kris kind of biffed the first song, but had his "Idol" moment with the second. Adam is Adam, and he will almost certainly go on to win this competition, even if he came on stage next week singing "Who Let the Dogs Out" or some such. I'd like to see Kris and Adam in the finals, but the smart money is on Gokey and Adam. And that's kind of too bad.