American Idol Recap- Season 8

On American Idol last night, each of the three remaining contestants had to perform two songs: One picked by a judge, and one they could pick for themselves. 

Danny Gokey started the night off with Paula Abdul's song choice, "Dance Little Sister." And while I want to commend Paula for picking something that suited the unique quality of his voice so well, I also wanted to scream that Americans were voting on the outcome, and he most certainly got the short end of the stick on a popularity vote. The song was a little too disco-y, and we all know how well Disco is received! I just wanted to mention also that Kara is a bitch, complaining about his dancing. He was clearly feeling the music, it did not detract from his singing. So shut it, temp.

His second song, picked by himself, was "You Are So Beautiful," His vocals were just emotionally driven and really, well, beautiful. Kara called it stunning, but her kind words were like salt in the open wound she created earlier in the show. Simon, whose opinion is of any interest to me, said "I would call that a vocal masterclass." And so I learned a new word.

The evening's second performer was Kris Allen, and Randy and Kara got to pick his song out. I guess the producer's don't think of her as her own person, either. They picked "Apologize" by One Republic, doing the exact opposite of what Paula did: Going for the easy vote. He did the song justice, although it was pointed out that he left it a little too similar to the original. And for song numero dos: "Heartless" by Kanye West. Wow. Wow. He made that song what it never was from the original, but should have been. He just stood on the stage, playing his acoustic guitar and breaking down the verses, and I thought he was astoundingly good. Again, a very voter-conscious choice, so nobody can ever accuse him of under-thinking the competition.

And everyone's favorite: Mr. Adam Lambert. Simon picked his first song, "One" by U2. Let me first say, he changed it just enough, put his spin on it, and his talent is ridiculous. But did anyone else find it a little bit shrill? In the best possible way, it reminded me of some hysterical wife trying to remind her husband to keep his you know what you know where while heis out at some crazy bachelor party. I loved Simon's quote, "It may sound a little biased, but I thought that was a brilliant song choice."

Adam's second song of the night was Aerosmith's "Cryin." What a fantastic song choice! It is exactly the type of song he could really flourish in, while mixing in some emotional ballads, I hope. In the beginning of the song, there were some female backups singing at the same time as Adam, and I thought that was an annoying mistake, but other than that, a flawless performance.

Going in to the night, I was confident that the finale would be a Gokey/Lambert face-off. Now, I'm not so sure. Kris is also incredibly talented and deserving, and I think for the first time, I would be happy with any of the three walking away with the title, because let's face it, they will all walk away with record deals. And I will walk to a store and buy each of their albums.