AMERICAN IDOL Season 8 — Top 3 Perform Judges' Choice and Their Own Favorites

Let me just get something off my chest first. I anxiously awaited Simon’s song choice for Adam, not because I couldn’t wait to hear Adam sing it but because Simon is usually spot-on about marrying song to talent. So when I heard he selected no less than U2’s “One,” which required personal clearance from the band, I pumped my fist in the air—yessss! That is one of my favorite songs EVER and I thought it was in the right range for Adam. It always brings me to the edge of tears whenever I hear it. Well, until now.

Of all the outrageous things Adam’s done on this show, this was absolutely the worst. I’ve tolerated his shrillness and even really liked some of his performances (“Tracks of My Tears” and “Whole Lotta Love”) but this travesty was unforgivable. He completely ruined this gorgeous song and then had the audacity to tell people to rewind and listen to how beautiful the lyrics are. Well, yes, they are, but you obliterated them with your screaming! He should’ve trusted the simple elegance of the lyrics and melody because the song’s beauty lies in its aching starkness, not helter-skelter volume.

OK, now that that’s out of the way, let’s go back to the beginning. Danny started the evening with a song Paula chose for him, Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Dance Little Sister.” He sang it well, with a lot of energy and his gritty soulfulness but I wasn’t in love with the song. “Wishing Well” would’ve been a little more interesting.

Then Kris went with another blah song, One Republic’s “Apologize,” hand-picked by Kara and Randy for him. Kris’s vocals were heartfelt as usual and the song’s level of difficulty is high but this performance just didn’t set the place on fire for me. Kris usually does a really good job of selecting songs for himself so I was hoping that when it came to performing his choice later in the evening, he’d do better.

And then Adam sang “One.” See above comments. Still angry.

In the latter half of the show, the contestants got to sing whatever they wanted. Danny chose Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.” That song is pretty and everything but he needed to make a deep impact and I don’t think that song did it for him. It was just a nice lite FM version and I probably would’ve changed the station if I’d heard it on the radio.

Kris went next with Kanye West’s “Heartless.” I’m no fan of Kanye’s so when I heard that, I thought, What?! and not in the dope way Randy usually means it. But then I saw Kris with only his guitar in front of the mike, which is usually when he’s strongest, and got excited. And he didn’t disappoint with his acoustic reinvention! Yay, Kris! He proved he could think for himself and is more savvy than the judges about song selection. I got home too late to vote but I’m really hoping now that Kris will be in the finals. I think he’s got a strong chance and will probably pull an upset tomorrow, despite the judges repeatedly calling him a dark horse.

Adam closed the show for the umpteenth time with Aerosmith’s “Crying.” I’m crying over what he did to “One” so I’m not even gonna comment on this.

What did you think? Were the judges or contestants better at picking songs? Does Kris have a chance?