The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

 Well, will you look at that: I actually am able to predict what will happen on "Idol." You know, as long as I have a 50-50 chance!

Seriously, earlier on Wednesday I was convinced Adam would end up winning and I would be the idiot again (you know, like last week). But aside from proving me (and USA Today) right, I'm glad Kris won. I like to root for the underdog, and I think that's exactly what Kris was in these finals.

But what a show, huh? I'm kind of offended I wasn't asked to perform!  Just off the top of my head, here's who did perform: Queen, Rod Stewart, KISS (?!), Steve Martin, Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper, the Black-Eyed Peas, Fergie and Queen Latifah. And I'm sure I missed someone.

I fast-forwarded through some of them for the sake of time (and through all of those horrid group sings). But I loved Allison's duet with Cyndi and Danny's with Lionel. 

And I think Queen has found a new frontman in Adam, complete with winged apparatus (that boy really, really belongs on Broadway!).

Other thoughts:

Thanks, everyone, for reading and commenting and making this so fun to do!

And they both were disappointing in their own ways.

Most disappointing, though, was that horrible song “No Boundaries” that they both had to sing (co-written by judge Kara DioGuardi). Ugh. I’ll remember to fast-forward through it on Wednesday night. I’m just going to pretend the guys each did two songs and ignore this third one. Any song about mountains and hurricanes never should be sung.

Adam wisely went with “Mad World” for his greatest hit pick and it worked. I thought it was just as fabulous as the first time he sang it. The judges all agreed except for Simon, who thought it was too theatrical. Hello? You’ve met Adam, right, Simon?

Kris was also smart with his pick of “Ain’t No Sunshine” on the piano. Wow. Fantabulous! I don’t know that I agree with Simon that he outsang Adam, though. I think I’d call the first round a tie.

For the second round, “Idol” creator Simon Fuller chose the songs. Adam kicks it off with Sam Cooke’s “Change is Gonna Come.” I thought it was a weird choice for Adam, as his voice is not really soulful at all -- he just doesn’t seem suited for that song. My husband pointed out that maybe that was the point -- to hear him do something different.

Eh, I wasn’t impressed. I guess I like Adam more when he’s kind of subdued. There is something about the tone of his voice when he really belts it out that I just don’t care for much. But the judges were falling all over him.

Fuller’s choice for Kris was Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On,” which Kris did while strumming his guitar with a small group of other musicians. I have to agree with Simon (and my husband) that his performance was a little too laid back for that song.

So, there you go. I thought they both rocked the first round, faltered on the second and were forced to sing a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad song on the third round.

What’s a voter to do? In my case, it’s not vote, but try to predict who will win on Wednesday night. I think there will be more votes than ever. And I think it will be very close. But I think -- with former Gokey-backers now supporting him -- Kris will win.

I guess we’ll find out  if USA Today was right back on April 28 with their story about Kris being an “ ‘Idol’ game-changer.”

Don't forget (since Ryan warned us twice) that the two-bloated-hour results show on Wednesday is expected to go long, so set those DVRs to record long, too, if you aren't going to watch it live.

What did you think? And what about next year? Should they keep four judges? If not, who should go away? And should they keep the judges save?

And if you haven't already, don't forget to vote in our "Idol" poll!

What?! I never said Adam would be voted off, did I? Oh, yeah. OK. I was wrong. Sigh. I'm wrong more often than I'd like to admit ...

A whopping 88 million votes were cast, putting Adam and Kris in the finals. Milwaukee's own Danny Gokey was sent home, but, as with many "Idol" finalists these days, I'm sure he'll find success without the title (and maybe more so).

So what happens now? Some might say Adam is going to run away with the title. But keep this in mind: Ryan (if you can believe him) said "only" a million votes separated the Top 2. And Danny voters will almost certainly vote for Kris over Adam. Unless they blame Kris for spoiling Danny's chances to make the finals. Ah, to read the minds of "Idol" voters ...

Guess we'll find out next week! Go Kris!

After Tuesday's performances:

According to the judges and a lot of blogging media types, Adam Lambert should win the contest -- or at the very least be in the final. But I’m wondering if we might be in for a shock on Wednesday night.

I have generally liked Adam this season. Sometimes his performances veered toward over-the-top and over-singing, but he is still the most interesting of the contestants.

But Danny Gokey and Kris Allen have much wider appeal. Adam is a love-him-or-hate-him guy. And Tuesday night’s performances just highlighted that for me.

Danny kicked off the night with Paula’s song choice for him: “Dance Little Sister” by Terrance Trent D’Arby. It was a fun, energetic, superbly sung performance. It looks like the trip home did him some good, because he seems to be bringing his A game more than ever before. The judges (who were ridiculously and annoyingly feisty) dinged him for his dancing, but who cares about that when his singing is so good? You can’t see people dancing on the radio, after all.

It was his second song (his choice) that blew me away, though. I loved loved loved his take on Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.” It was controlled, tender and passionate. It gave me chills. And it’s the kind of performance that is going to get those fingers dialing for votes.

Kris stayed a little on the safe side with his performance of One Republic‘s “Apologize” (Kara’s and Randy’s choice for him). He pretty much played it straight, at the piano. It was very well done, of course, just kind of forgettable.

But then he kicked it into high gear with his choice of Kanye West’s “Heartless.” His confident, pitch-perfect acoustic performance was enough to prove that he is as deserving of being in the final as Adam and Danny. And it’s a modern, hip (do people say that anymore?) song that will also garner him plenty of votes (aside from the obvious cutie-pie factor, of course).

Then there was Adam. Simon got permission from none other than Bono for Adam to sing U2’s “One.” And he started out OK. But then he changed it up, and I think he missed the mark with his interpretation. He quickly went into over-singing, and -- on this song in particular -- the tone in his voice when he hits those big notes was just grating. It just didn’t seem to fit the song; it’s a U2 song, not Led Zeppelin.

Adam’s pick was Aerosmith’s “Crying” (ugh … I’m going to need a raise if I have to listen to any more Aerosmith songs for this blog). So, yeah, I’m not an Aerosmith fan. So I didn’t like it. I tried to remove my dislike and judge it on its merits. I guess he did OK. I just can’t be impartial. If you can stomach the song, you can let me know how you think he did.

But those two performances highlighted how divisive Adam is. I’m sure (judging just from the comments here), there are more people with a more passionate dislike for Adam than for Danny and Kris. And that could translate into some “anybody but Adam” votes for the latter two. I think the judges falling all over Adam also could push more votes to Danny and Kris (What do those judges know?! We'll show them!)

So here I go, waaaay out on a limb, ready to be mocked on Wednesday night: I think Danny and Kris will be in the final. And, if that happens, you can believe that Ryan Seacrest and the judges will fall over with melodramatic disbelief as if the greatest of tragedies has occurred on the “Idol” stage. Yet life will go on, and Adam will have a very successful singing career. And we’ll still have an awesome final.

What did you think? There’s room on my limb for you if you’d like to join me … :)

And just like that, Allison Iraheta is out. I'm totally bummed.

We have an all-male Top 3, at least two of whom are not as deserving as Allison. But that's "Idol" for ya, isn't it? Milwaukee's Danny Gokey is joined by Kris Allen and Adam Lambert in the Top 3, and all three get their big homecoming this week.

According to Fox 6's enthusiastic report, Danny Gokey Day in Milwaukee will be on Friday. The day will include a visit to the Fox 6 studios (of course), a parade and a free mini-concert on the Harley stage at the Summerfest grounds. Then he will sing the national anthem and throw out the first pitch at Miller Park for the Brewers-Cubs game.

A complete schedule of events is on the Fox 6 Web site.

Aside from the annoying results, we were treated to a Paula Abdul performance that seemed suspiciously lip-synched and pre-recorded. No Doubt rocked it old school with an energetic performance fo "I'm Just a Girl" to promote their tour (which is coming before their next album, apparently). And Daughtry debuted a new song from their next album, showing Allison that there is, indeed, much success to be had for the fourth-place finisher on "Idol."

I'm still bummed, though. *sigh* I guess I'll get over it. Eventually.

After Tuesday's performances:

Rock night on “American Idol” was made for Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta. Not so much for Kris Allen and Danny Gokey.

Slash -- with his annoyingly ever-present sunglasses -- was the mentor this week. And our Top 4 took the stage having had no dress rehearsal on the set because a portion of said set almost came crashing down earlier on Tuesday. Oh, the drama! Will they stumble or will they persevere? Well, it was a little of both.

To no one’s surprise, Tuesday’s theme was a walk in the park for Adam. He was born to sing Zeppelin and he did so with ease on “Whole Lotta Love.”

The night also seemed to be in Allison’s wheelhouse, but she stumbled a bit with her choice of Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby.” Her singing was good, but it’s really not a good song to showcase her talent. Way too repetitive and, well, boring (sorry, Joplin fans).

Adam and Allison also won the “battles of the duets” (another new thing this week -- “Idol” is all about changing things up lately as its mammoth ratings have dropped to slightly sub-mammoth). The A-team did Foghat’s “Slow Ride” and they were, of course, awesome. Again, Adam could have performed this in his sleep, but Allison was right there with him. This, ladies and gents, should be our Top 2, if talent counts for anything.

Kris and Danny, however, struggled.

They started out with a duet of The Styx’ “Renegade,” which was pretty cool. I agree with the judges that they were best when they were harmonizing together, and that Danny’s solo parts outshone Kris’ efforts.

But their solo performances really hurt them.

Kris did his thing with The Beatles’ “Come Together,” but he just doesn’t have the chops for rock and it showed. He needs more meat to his voice for rock, and there were times when the music just overpowered him. Simon Cowell said he needed more substance, that his performance was “like eating ice for lunch.“ I just don’t think it’s in him.

Danny sang Aerosmith’s “Dream On” and it was … well, not so good. Truth be told, I really don’t like Aerosmith or this song. But I do usually like Danny. But the end of this performance was cringe-inducing. He tried to hit the Steven Tyler-esque screech at the end, but it was just painful. When Adam does that, it seems to fit the song and it’s musical. When Danny tried it, it hurt my ears and just sounded like a mistake. Not good.

But I think he’ll survive, simply because of his popularity. I think Kris is going home on Wednesday night.

What do you think? Who would you like to see in the Top 3 and then Top 2? Do you think you’ll get your wish?

Oh, and sorry I didn't get a new pic of Danny for the blog this week (you know, without the stalker-like chic behind him). I'll look this week -- promise. :)