Analysis: And so goes the Gokey

Well, that was hardly unexpected.

So Kris and Adam will square off in the finale next Tuesday. Not many would have predicted that back in February. It surely will be a fight, as Ryan stated only just over one million votes separated the top two vote-getters, which means there are a whole lot more Kris fans than anyone would have guessed.

Regarding Danny, he really went out with class. Not only did he sing the reprise of "You Are So Beautiful" with conviction and tenderness, but one could picture him singing to his wife, and he looked up to the ceiling as if he were looking up to heaven. No matter what you think of Danny (whom I think has got a really bad wrap this season from some), you have to admit he really wanted to be there and gave it his all each and every time.

The rest of the results show means little compared to the results, but we might as well take a look at what transpired tonight.

The show kicked off with a lame attempt at humor and shameless self promotion, as Ben Stiller and friends from the cast of Night At the Museum: Battle For the Smithsonian opened the show with a pre-taped video joking about the judges' table being honored at the Smithsonian. Hah, very funny guys.

After that speed bump we were treated to a performance by a little boy named Noah who came all the way from Rwanda to sing as part of a presentation done by Alicia Keys for the "Keep a Child Alive" foundation, which she is the ambassador of. It was an extension of last night's "Idol Gives Back" segment featuring Carrie Underwood. Noah sang well considering he learned the lyrics in English in only one week.

The other two performers were more experienced (well, one of them, anyway), and sang more recognizable tunes (well, one of them, anyway). Jordin Sparks was first with the debut of her new single "Battlefield," complete with an accompaniment by Ryan Tedder on the piano and a herd of shrieking backup singers. They literally ruined the stunning vocals Jordin was able to belt out. She looked a good 5 years older than she did when she one, and even lost a few pounds. Don't take that the wrong way, though, as she looked very beautiful and took command of the stage with the upbeat track.

Katy Perry, the night's other featured performer, was not as fortunate. She may not have had to deal with the atrocious backup singers, but she had her own share of showgirls and stuff helping her distract the audience from her awful singing (including Adam's name on on her cape...wooohoo...). As bad as she and her bug eyes were, though, I give her credit for singing live. That's more than what Paula can say...

As for the hometown visits, nothing really stuck out. Kris' emotional hug with his father was sort of an indicator that he was going to make the finale. When Ryan mentioned it as a "prideful moment," it became pretty obvious that he was going to advance. Danny's trip back to Milwaukee was sweet, but it seemed like him reuniting with friend and fellow Hollywood contestant Jamar Rodgers was not as sentimental as Kris' return home. Adam's hometown visit was probably the least eventful, aside from the whole girl-in-bra-rushing-the-stage incident, which sounded a lot more exciting than it looked on camera.

And that Ford video looked like it was done in Windows Moviemaker in about a half an hour. I understand the budget has shrunk compared to years past, and people aren't really concerned with the videos at this point, but c'mon, at least make it look like some effort was put into it.

As for my predictions, I was wrong once again with my pick for Kris to go in my pre-show predictions, and I was also wrong with my original prediction of Adam finishing in third. Oh well.

At the end of the day, tonight's events were pretty much inevitable following Kris' performance of "Heartless" last night and adding in Simon's nonstop pimpage of Adam, and the stage is set for a competitive finale. Or is it? The producers would like to make you think so, but I really think the whole "less than a million votes separated Adam and Kris" thing is them stretching reality in order to create a false sense of competitiveness. But we shall see.

In the words of Simon, it looks like we're gonna have a big ding dong next week.