About last night: the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round

Last night was a whole lot of weird. From the pre-show accidents to the Danny scream to the judges' critiques to the performance order to the throwing under the bus, I don't know where to begin.

First of all, it's a good thing that no more Idol stage ornaments came crashing down mid-show, and it's good to know that stage manager Debbie is doing alright following her 20-stair slip. Next, it was good to hear Slash give constructive criticism to the Top 4 finalists. And it is also important to note that the contestants went dress rehearsal-less, which meant the live tries were basically their dry runs as well. But that's all just pre-show stuff. Then come the performances...

So Adam kicked it off with "Whole Lot of Love" by Led Zeppelin, a risky choice no doubt. Despite distracting the audience by glamming it up to the max, Adam sounded great on the song, especially being surrounded by the band, which I may add was at its best last night. Even though he has appeared to be a rock star for weeks and weeks now, last night was his alone to own thanks to the theme and will likely be seen as the icing on his cake if and when his time comes at the finale. The judges had fun with their critiques as usual but there really was nothing they could have said in terms of constructive criticism, and Simon's prediction that "nothing can top that" would eventually hold true.

Next up was Allison and her solo performance of "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin. She is also no stranger to rocking out on the Idol stage, so when it came time for her to actually sing a rock song, things went according to plan. However, the judges took that as she did not really take any risks, as Randy and Kara were quick to question her song choice. But it was Simon who had the most to say on the subject. He seemed it bit bothered that Allison did not go with the other song she was deciding between, which he thought was a Queen song but she later revealed it to be a Jefferson Airplane song. What turned into a back and forth of song choice ended with a pair of rolled eyes from Simon and Allison saying she was going to talk a lot after being criticized for not talking enough in the past.

And then Kris and Danny took the stage to give it their all on "Renegade" by Styx in the first ever performance show duets in Idol history. The only problem is...it didn't work out. At all. Danny overpowered Kris throughout most of the performance and there were pitch problems galore as Kara so rightly noted. Simon said Danny was better than Kris, and while that may be true, it still doesn't mean much in terms of how the votes will come in.

Kris took the stage right after his duet, which presented him with no pressure of course (not). He seemed a little down after Simon said Danny did better, and yet no one can blame him even though that statement remains true. When it came time for him to impress the audience with The Beatles' "Come Together," though, things fell a little flat. Kris just does not have the intensity to pull off a credible rock performance, at least not a classic rock performance. This showed, and even though vocally he did alright, it just did not stack up to the others. The judges went a tiny bit too hard on him, though, with Kara actually sounding the least supportive. But Simon's "ice for lunch" comment, although a little hilarious, was right on target here. Kris is one of the two finalists that could go tomorrow.

The final solo performance of the night came from Danny, which ended up being a make or break situation with Aerosmith's "Dream On." Danny along with Kris were the two finalists that were expected to have the toughest time last night, and that pretty much stayed true when all things were said and done. Danny sounded great out of the gate but the last 15 seconds of the song is where he really lost everyone else. That one note, which was the most pivotal note of all for the song, didn't go over well. In fact, it was like an Adam screech on steroids, and he came off as trying too hard.

The judges were lukewarm in their comments, giving him an "A+ for effort" and such, but Simon delivered the kiss of death when he said he thought Danny would be safe when the results came in. Ryan added to everything when he said Danny had never been in the Bottom 3 to date, and Danny's handling of his critiques came off poorly. Hear that? That's the sound of the bus backing up. He should have just stood there nodding his head in agreement. Look for an appearance in the Bottom 2 for sure.

And then the wheels really kicked into gear with a final duet courtesy of Season 8's rockers: Allison and Adam. The two sounded and looked like they had been performing together for years. They were like seasoned performers just having fun, and it showed. This was picked up on by the judges, and their comments reflected these sentiments. Simon even credited Adam with possibly keeping Allison's chances alive.

So there you have it. The producers found a way to stick Adam in the pimp spot two weeks in a row. How many weeks total has that been? Too many to count I'd say. But it's no surprise, since this season will be known as the season where the producers were at their most manipulative. We'll see how the results go tonight, but last night was surely one that few saw coming exactly how it came.