Top 4 - Life is a Rock (But the Idol Stage Rolled Me)

A lot has gone wrong on this season of "Idol," but unlike last year, where I no longer cared enough to vote for any of the contestants once we reached the Top 4, I currently have two favorites to vote for and another I like but don't vote for. A certain bespectacled cheesehead is the only fly in the ointment. He's clearly the weakest one remaining, so America has an important decision to make tonight.

Ryan starts the show by telling us there was an accident on the set. Apparently one of the sign towers collapsed, which means the contestants haven't had a proper dress rehearsal. Wow. This could be one crazy night. We're also getting four individual performances plus two duets. Slash, of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame, is our mentor, and we learn that he's now recording a solo album. Slash has them hold the mentoring session at the Roxy, because he wants them to get into the spirit of rock. If Slash indeed came up with that idea himself, that's awesome. It's good to see a mentor who really tries.

Adam Lambert leads off with Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." Rockin'! He's got that Robert Plant upper register, so this should be good, right? Well, his vocals sound good as always, but I don't hear a whole lot of originality here. He sings the line "woman" during the breakdown, which is kind of funny given what we know about Adam's life offstage. This is OK. My problem is that it doesn't really go anywhere for me. It's a great song, but I don't think it works as a truncated "Idol" rendition. It doesn't have the same dramatic power as the original. Randy calls him a rock star. Kara says he's not just a rock star, he's a rock god. Paula calls it a whole lotta perfect. Simon says it was one of his favorite performances from Adam. Well, Adam's act has been underwhelming me lately, but I still like him. He's not going anywhere after the Bottom 2 scare from last week.

Allison Iraheta is batting second, and hopefully she won't be laying down a sacrifice bunt to advance Adam to third. We find out she went to Adam's hairdresser to get help for this week. I thought she looked edgier! In the mentor clip she tells Slash it was between "Somebody to Love" and "Cry Baby," and Slash advises her to go with the Joplin. Allison has a similar vocal style, so this should be good. Once again, Allison's right in her comfort zone. She hits every note and holds her own on stage. On a technical level this is very good, but it doesn't quite blow me away like I was hoping. It feels like she could've done more for some reason. Randy says he didn't like the song choice. Kara says it was the right artist choice, but "Piece of My Heart" would've been better. Paula calls her downright fearless and says Allison should play Janis Joplin in a biopic. Simon says she tried too hard to sound like the original and he would've gone with the Queen song. Allison says it was Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love," not Queen's. Funny, that's what I had assumed when she said it to Slash originally. I'm more intuitive than Simon! She also says she didn't want to do "Piece of My Heart" because it's been done several times on the show already. Funny, that didn't stop her from doing "Alone" in the Semifinals. Oh well, the point is that Allison rocks and deserves to get some votes tonight, even if it wasn't her best performance.

Time for the first duet of the evening, with Kris Allen and Danny Gokey. Aw, man! Why did Kris have to get paired up with boring old Danny? I guess with Allison and Adam getting their hair done together it was obvious they were meant to duet. They're doing Styx' "Renegade." Hearing their voices right next to each other makes it obvious how much better Kris' is, but their harmonizing is cool when Danny doesn't sound slightly sharp. Kris actually sounds like a less powerful Chris Daughtry at times here. Not bad, but I don't see Wayne and Garth bowing down and proclaiming their unworthiness either. Randy says they complement each other greatly. Kara says that neither Kris nor Danny individually seems like a renegade, but together they were good. Paula says it was powerful and compelling. Simon says Danny was better than Kris. OK, Cowell. That's it. You're lying to our faces now. Kris was clearly better than Danny, and the side-by-side comparison made it obvious. You just can't stop pimping Danny though. I have to wonder if Danny's blackmailing Simon at this point.

Now Kris gets the stage to himself for The Beatles' "Come Together." Well, hopefully it'll be better than Carly Smithson's crappy version last year. Like everything else tonight, this is just OK. He kind of makes it into a heavy guitar jam. Hey! In the third verse he varies it up and makes it sound almost like a bridge. Well, OK, that's cool. It's not Kris' best performance, but it's solid. Still, the stage has yet to be set on fire tonight. Randy says he did well considering he's not really a rocker. Kara says he was trying too hard. Paula says his signature was all over it. Simon compares it to eating ice for lunch; it leaves him with nothing memorable. Come on, Kris fans! Vote a little harder this week!

As expected, Danny goes last. He's doing Aerosmith's "Dream On." I hope it works as well for him as it did for Michael Johns last year. From the first note I'm already bored. I'm waiting for him to do something new with this song....(looks at watch)...still waiting. Well, he's singing it OK, but it's pretty much a karaoke version with awkward phrasing. Whoa, is there a pterodactyl in the room? Nope, it's just Danny's off-key falsetto screech ending. Now that was bad. Just watch the judges eat this up. Randy says it was just all right, but he'll give him an A+ for a valiant effort. Kara says he took it a little too far. She sees him more early Aerosmith, like "Cryin'" and "Crazy." Ummm, Kara? That's 90's Aerosmith! "Dream On" was from their 1973 debut album! Ugh. This lady has no idea what she's talking about. She does give him credit for taking chances. Yeah, OK. Paula says it wasn't the right song but she's a huge fan. Simon says the last note was like watching a horror movie, but he thinks Danny's going to be safe. Hear that, Danny fans? He's safe! You don't need to vote! Well, judges, I'll give you some credit. At least you knew better than to pimp that disastrous performance. He so deserves to go home now. Could we be that lucky?

Now we get to finish up with an Adam-Allison duet! They're doing Foghat's "Slow Ride." Rock! And! Roll! This is just OK until they start harmonizing. Then it shifts from cool to totally awesome! At long last the stage has been set on fire. Perhaps the contestants should do duets more often! Randy says it was the bomb and that they should do a duet on their albums. Kara says it was good because they pushed each other to be better. Give Kris a break, Kara! He didn't have much to work with! Paula calls them a perfect blend and agrees that they should record a duet. Simon says they won the battle of the duets and that Adam may have helped Allison stay in the competition. Hey, she deserves it!

Wow. In the closing recap montage they show a clip of Danny's awful glory note. Are they throwing him under the bus? Boy, do I hope so! Perhaps at long last they've realized he's the worst one left and has no commercial potential!

My performance ranking:

Adam/Allison duet (9 out of 10)
Allison solo (6 out of 10)
Kris duet (5.9 out of 10)
Kris solo (5.5 out of 10)
Adam solo (5 out of 10)
Danny duet (4.9 out of 10)
Danny solo (3 out of 10)

Predictions:

Adam's fans went crazy when he was in the Bottom 2 last week. There's no doubt they're voting extra hard this week. I have a feeling Kris' fans might be doing the same thing, though perhaps to a lesser extent. Allison didn't bring the "wow" factor for her solo, but I think "Slow Ride" allowed her to show what she's capable of. Danny was clearly the worst, and Simon may have inspired complacency in his fans. This may be the most wishful thinking ever on my part, but here's what I predict:

Bottom 2: Kris, Danny
Going Home: Danny

If this happens tomorrow night I will officially love this season. Stupid changes like the Judges' Save, the overmanipulated Semifinals and the Wild Card show can be forgiven if the Top 3 we're left with on Wednesday night is Kris, Allison and Adam. As an "Idol" fan it's the stuff dreams are made of.

We also get performances from Daughtry and No Doubt, so that should be...well, honestly, I couldn't care less about either, but if Danny goes home it'll be a great night! I shouldn't get ahead of myself though. I need to go cast some more votes for Allison and Kris!