Top 3

We're down to the meat of the show now.  The contestants are singing twice this week, one song picked by the judges and the other song by the contestants.  This gives all of them a chance to show off what they see themselves doing as singers.

Danny Gokey is first singing “Dance, Little Sister,” selected for him by Paula because she believes he has a “magical quality” to his voice that will help him pull it off.  He certainly starts off strong, looking more comfortable on stage than I’ve seen him before, working the stage.  This is a big song for him, and he gets a bit shouty in the verses and dials it down in the chorus, which is an interesting choice.  It’s a solid performance, a good way to start the show off, an enjoyable performance if not spectacular. 

Kris Allen will be singing "Apologize" by OneRepublic, chosen by Kara and Randy.  This is a very interesting song choice for him, and I find it unusual that it was selected considering who sang it last year (Archuleta, if you were wondering.)  Kris starts off on the piano, singing piano as well and a little slower.  Everything about this song is low key except his voice.  Although he can't hold volume and high pitch at the same time and has to go softer, he is pitch-perfect.  He sounds like he has emotionally connected to this song, and every segment gets stronger.  The second chorus, he completely foregoes the high notes, and powers through.  That was very, very good.

Side-note: Kara thought that Kris ought to have changed up the song. Simon, appropriately, calls her on that shit, saying that if Kara [and Randy] have chosen a song for someone they have no right to complain when the contestant doesn't interpret it and spin it away from the original, because they said "Here's a song to sing that would suit you," not "here's a song that would suit you if you mixed it up." I completely agree. I think that the subtle alterations that Kris made to the song were enough, and that he would not have gained by any real changes since the song was arranged nicely for his voice to start with.

Adam Lambert is singing "One" by U2, chosen by Simon.  I've been gunning for Adam to sing U2 since the beginning.  Adam starts off slow, in blue light, soft and tender, and does his Adam thing.  It's a beautiful thing.  Then he does something we haven't really seen him do yet, and mix it up and amp it up in the same song.  In the chorus, Adam steps it up, grabs the band, and kicks it.  His voice powers up, he screams out one note, and then he's back down.  I did not like his use of the background singers--the man can sing on his own--and did think that the blue light was a little bit indulgent, to use Simon's word.  Overall, though, this song takes balls to take on, and Adam has them.  Paula's calling him the winner right now.  Simon calls it a "brilliant song choice" and a brilliant performance.  Only one question: how is Adam going to top this?  And poor Kris and Danny having to follow that.

For himself, Danny chooses to sing "You Are So Beautiful", and yours truly would like to point out that the arrangement of contestants tonight is not counterbalanced and unfairly biased against Danny.  Still, this absolutely abysmal, cloying, sickly sweet song choice certainly isn't what I would have wanted to finish tonight.  Danny is singing at the top of his range, which is not his best; he does better belting, as he did earlier tonight, and as he does in the latter 45 seconds or so of the song.  The first half was not so good, the second half was all right.  I really like what he did in terms of arrangement, and his vocals were very good in the second half.  A B+ performance: passing, certainly an achievement, but nothing to jump up and down and scream from the rooftops about.  

Kris Allen is singing "Heartless" by Kanye West, which could either be a great choice or a trainwreck. He starts off alone, a capella, and then brings a guitar in for what promises to be a vintage Kris performance, a Jason Mraz-y, Howie Day vibe. He's having a lot of fun with this song, to judge from the grin on his face, singing it rather than rapping it. This is not a great song choice but it is a lot of fun and I'd buy his CD based off of that single. I think actually that Kris is making a good choice by choosing not to compete with the sheer vocal ability of Danny and Adam, and instead doing--I'm stealing a Paula word--something relevant and current. Two thumbs up.

Adam chose “Cryin’” by Aerosmith for tonight.  He’s back to his rock roots (if you can call them his roots) and just breaking it down, working up a little high where he’s comfortable.  One of the background singers is trying to sing harmony with him and is three counties away from the pitch, and that is making him sound off in turn.  Adam is having fun with this, getting a little over the top (especially when he out and out screams the last note.)  Not as good as his first performance tonight, but Randy is right that Adam is a rock star.  (Adam needs to be the front man of a band, but unfortunately, those bands tend to form entire, and they don’t send out “Lead Singer Wanted” ads.)  Simon, bless him, points out that people need to continue to vote for him no matter how well he did.

You know what?  Tonight, this could be anyone’s game.  I think that Adam is going to be winning the overall contest, but it could legitimately be either Danny or Kris with him.  I hope it is Kris, because Kris has shown more overall versatility and originality, and he is also more my “type” of artist—acoustic, a little bit indie, with a singer-songwriter kind of vibe.  Danny could be the safest choice, though, because he can sing vanilla pop ballads better than Kris, and therefore be more radio friendly.