'Idol' odds 'n ends: Jordin Sparks sings at White House tree lighting

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>Jordin Sparks was in Washington, D.C., last night to sing at the 86th National Christmas Tree Lighting, which took place at the White House. Watch Jordin sing "Walking In a Winter Wonderland" with other guest performers and the entire audience to close out the show below:

The event was hosted by Randy Jackson and performers included Sheryl Crow and Celtic Woman among others. Then entire program can be watched here.

>Jennifer Hudson performed on Oprah's first ever Holiday Music Extravaganza, which aired Monday, in which she did a duet of "Silent Night" with country music duo Sugarland. Watch the performance below:



Jennifer will have her very own Christmas special on ABC, as Jennifer Hudson: I'll Be Home For Christmas will air on the network on Mon., Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. A preview of the special can be viewed on ETonline.com.

>This week two Idol alums from the show's eighth season announced record deals, as it was revealed on Monday that Lil Rounds has signed with Bungalo Records, while today it was made public that Michael Sarver signed with Dream Records. Below is an excerpt from Michael's press release:

Los Angeles, CA–Dream Records/Universal Music Group announced today the signing of American Idol’s Top 10 finalist of the 2009 season MICHAEL SARVER with plans to release Sarver’s debut country music CD in the spring of 2010. Sarver’s first single from the new album titled “You Are,” will be released nationally and on itunes this coming Tuesday, December 8. Michael is currently available for interviews in support of the upcoming singles and his current Holiday Tour with other A.I. finalists.

There are now a total of six finalists from the previous season that have confirmed record deals.

>Megan Joy posted some original tracks on her official music MySpace page earlier this week, including "Feel Love" and "Incomplete." She tweeted that she wrote all the lyrics on her own.

>David Archuleta began his tour promoting his new album Christmas From the Heart last week. Watch his performance of "Ave Maria" from his show at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, Calif., this past Monday below:



Arch's tour continues on Sunday at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek, Co., and wraps up at the Capitol One Bank Theatre at Westbury in Westbury, N.Y., on Sun., Dec. 20. For full tour cities and dates see here.

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Poll of the week: Ramiele takes the 9th-place prize no contest

For the third week in a row, a Season 7 alum has been deemed the winner of the IDOL LIVE poll of the week for its championship series. This comes as a bit of a surprise, especially considering the strength of Megan Joy Corkrey's fan presence in polls held during the most recent season.

Ramiele Malubay led things off with 33 votes, good for 50% of the entire take for this round. Megan was up next with 15 votes (23%), which was a little bit weaker than expected as noted above. The only other alum worth mentioning is Mandisa, whose nine votes earned her 13% of the poll's total.

In the next installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, readers are asked which 8th-place finalist is their favorite of all eight seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.

Jim Verraros 0 (0%)
Corey Clark 0 (0%)
Camile Velasco 2 (3%)
Nikko Smith 1 (1%)
Mandisa 9 (13%)
Gina Glocksen 5 (7%)
Ramiele Malubay 33 (50%)
Megan Joy Corkrey 15 (23%)

Total votes: 65

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Poll of the week: Kris ekes out a bonus win

Although it does not compare to his big win earlier tonight, Kris Allen was also victorious in the final installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week series for the eighth season of Idol. Kris scored 171 votes of the 328 total cast, good for 52% of the take. Adam was right behind him with 157 votes (47%).

Below are this week's results and the cumulative results for the entire season.

Adam 157 (47%)
Kris 171 (52%)

Total votes: 328

Total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Lil Rounds (5 votes)
10th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
09th - Michael Sarver (8 votes)
08th - Scott MacIntyre (17 votes)
07th - Megan Joy Corkrey (48 votes)
06th - Matt Giraud (51 votes)
05th - Anoop Desai (99 votes)
04th - Allison Iraheta (102 votes)
03rd - Danny Gokey (248 votes)
02nd - Kris Allen (691 votes)
01st - Adam Lambert (852 votes)

So there you have it. Adam actually beat out Kris for the poll of the week series, but then again this is just a silly poll. Still, Adam's fans should be commended for voting as much as they did over the course of the season, and the rest of the finalists' fans did a pretty good job overall with their voting.

In this week's poll of the week, we begin our IDOL LIVE poll of the week champion series edition in which readers are asked to vote for their favorite Top 12/13 finalist of all time. Voting will last exactly one week.

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Analysis: America still loves a comeback

And with that, Season 8 is no more. Kris Allen proved that even in the face of insurmountable odds, the underdog can never be counted out, and he did it an style tonight when word came in that he was crowned the American Idol of the eighth season.

I have to say that when I called Kris as the winner this morning, I was a little hesitant to type his name out. How could a no-named contestant that received zero air time before making it to the Top 36 make it all the way to the finale and defeat one of the most talented performers this show has ever seen grace its stage? But something in me said to go with my gut, that Kris' All-American image was really what this country was looking for and his vocal style is exactly what would be defined as "current." Kris is marketable and a record label's dream, and he will surely be able to move past Kara's dreaded "No Boundaries" single (which, by the way, he sounded better on tonight).

When the results came in, Kris looked as shocked as the next person. His surprise left him at a loss for words, which gave Ryan a reason to ask him to "show more excitement," but he really couldn't. It was too unexpected for him.

Adam Lambert should be very proud, though, because he will be much better off in the long run without the Idol stigma attached to his name. Besides, he delivered the single best performance of the night on his duet with KISS. Nothing can beat a little pyrotechnics and good old fashioned glam rock from the '70s and '80s. The performance was definitely the highlight of the night and will be remembered for years to come.

As for the rest of the show, it was leagues more entertaining than last night's performances. The guest performers were abundant and the duets kept on coming, and even though the silly "Golden Idol Awards" were brought back, they were actually epic this time around, with Nick Mitchell making a reappearance as Normund/Norman Gentle and Tatiana Del Toro was back to sing "Saving All My Love For You" for a fourth time while escaping security (yea nice try producers, that was so stage it almost wasn't funny). Those segments were funny, but kind of overshadowed by the performances.

Not all of the duets worked out well, though. Lil and Queen Latifah was kind of a shout fest and Lionel Richie seemed discombobulated when he sang his new single and "All Night Long" with Danny. In fact, Danny sounded so much better than Lionel it was kind of sad. Allison and Cyndi Lauper were soft and somber on "Time After Time" but once Lauper went off on a tangent near the end, things fell apart and the performance devolved into a contest between the two at who could sing the word "time" more.

Kris actually sounded really strong with Keith Urban on "Kiss a Girl." So strong, in fact, that he could actually pass as a country singer if he so chose to pursue that route. But the biggest "huh?" moment of the night had to have been Steve Martin and his folk band's duet with Megan and Michael. The whole thing seemed like a joke, only it wasn't. Poor Megan, she should have just said "caw! caw!" repeatedly and it would have been better than what she came up with in the form of singing. Michael sounded better but it was still rough in spots.

The Top 13 performed well together, but Allison should have had a bigger role on "So What," as the song has her name written all over it. The guys' rendition of "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was kind of creepy, especially seeing them all dressed in suits. It was cheesy and boring until Rod Stewart came out from under the stage, only to nearly trip and fall on his journey across the stage to the micstand. It's possible he had one too many sherries before he was given the go-ahead to take the stage.

One of the most exciting moments of the show was when Katrina Darrell (aka "Bikini Girl") and her new assets and tan emerged onto the stage to perform "Vision of Love" in her signature bikini when who else but Kara burst out from behind the big ol' Idol door and joined her on the Mariah Carey track. As if that wasn't enough, Kara pulled off the most hilarious moment of the season when she ripped her dress wide open to reveal a black bikini, which she immediately covered up and told Ryan she only did it because the rest of the judges dared her to do it and they agreed to donate to charity if she followed through. For all the pain and suffering she caused as a judge and songwriter, though, this moment did a little bit to take away the sting.

Another performance worth noting were Adam and Kris' duet with Queen on "We Are the Champions," which was an amazing moment with fog overtaking the stage and the rest of the Top 13 serving as a backing choir of sorts up above on the stairs, looking down at the last two men standing. This was definitely not what most expected for a duet between the final two, but nevertheless it did not disappoint. And David Cook's emotional performance of "Permanent" was surely one that will be held near and dear to his heart. It would have worked better had he sang it later in the night but he still did an amazing job.

A performance that could have done without was the Black Eyed Peas and their No. 1 single "Boom Boom Pow," as the foursome brought an awkward five-second "Idol blackout" courtesy of Fergie and her potty mouth (apparently she didn't get the memo that they were to sing the edited, family-friendly version of the song for this special occasion). Santana, on the other hand, did not disappoint, and the Top 13's take on "Smooth" was actually pretty solid.

But now that all the glitz and glamor has ended, it is important to acknowledge that this season was not very good. In fact, it was downright disappointing. Kris and Adam were bright spots in the season, as were a select few other finalists, but the rest of the season was just awful. I will address my thoughts on the season in a forthcoming post on here.

But for now, IDOL LIVE would like to congratulate Kris on his big night. You deserve it buddy.

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Flashback: Kellie Pickler's "Walkin' After Midnight"

Three seasons before Megan Joy Corkrey embarrassed herself with her rendition of Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight," Season 5's lovable quirky girl from Albermarle, Kellie Pickler, gave it her all on the song. Watch her performance from 1950s week (Top 11) below:

As evidenced by her performance of current single "Best Days of Your Life" on last week's results show, Kellie has come a long way in terms of performance skills despite the fact that her routine and involvement of the judges has been retained pretty well. She could still work on perfecting her vocals, though.

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 8 Results (4/8/09)

Tonight one finalist will take his or her final bow...or will they? Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. ET to see if the judges finally use their all-powerful save on the elimnee. The blogcast will last one hour. Kellie Pickler and Flo Rida are tonight's two guest performers.

Tonight's blogcast will feature music from David Archuleta, Kelly Clarkson, Megan Joy Corkrey, Michael Johns and Katharine McPhee.

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Season 8 finalists: Kelly or Cook?

Most FOX affiliates send one of its own to LA to cover all things Idol during the season. Once there, these correspondents compose a round robin of interviews with the finalists, most of the time asking pointless questions like "what's your favorite ice cream flavor?" or "is Simon mean to you?"

But Charley from Tampa Bay's FOX 13 actually asked an interesting question of the Top 9 finalists in his interview round. The question: "Kelly Clarkson or David Cook?" The answers:

So just for the record, the Top 9 finalists' preferences are:

Adam: Kelly
Allison: Kelly Cook (cop out, but funny)
Anoop: Kelly
Danny: Both (just a plain cop out)
Kris: Kelly
Lil: Kelly
Matt: David
Megan: Kelly
Scott: David

Ouch, looks like nothing comes close to the original, even as far as Idol alums are concerned.

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Analysis: Goodbye and caw! caw!

Megan Joy Corkrey was never going to win this season of Idol. Yes, she had the support of Kara and yes, she was unique. But when it came down to the bottom line, Megan had a few things working against here. For once, she is not a male, which the judges have been telling us from the very beginning would be a characteristic of this season's winner. Megan also couldn't dance, maybe not on a Danny Gokey level, but her movements on stage were just awkward to watch. And then there's the whole voice thing, something that was far from Megan's strong suit.

But when it came time to say goodbye last night, Megan was nothing but smiles and was accepting in her fate, making sure to tell her daughter that "momma's coming home" before she shed some tears during her goodbye video montage. The highlight of the episode was without a doubt her poking fun at herself by "caw! caw!"-ing about the stage, a reference to her ad-libbed phrase immediately following her performance of "Rockin' Robin" Top 13 week. She even flapped her wings a few times and got some chorus calls from the newly-decided top eight on the couches.

As for her little stand-off with Simon, she got what she deserved when he bluntly told her not to bother singing for her life because they were not going to use it on her regardless. Had she held her tongue earlier in the night and had not told Simon she "didn't care" what he had to say, they probably would not have been as up front about not saving her, but the reality is she was never going to be saved regardless so all it did was shave off a few seconds at the end of the show.

The other two members of the Bottom 3 were not surprising, but the way Ryan went about reading the results was just dumb. It's not even like he did one big "April Fools" joke by declaring one of the three groups of three was in fact the B3, he just kind of had them stand in those groups and then read the individual results. Maybe it could be conceived that his revealing of Matt's results were the closest thing to a joke, but that was more Matt assuming than it was Ryan pulling a good "gotcha!" out of his pocket.

As for the guest performers, one was boring while the other was lively. David Cook's first return to the Idol stage since winning back in May 2008 was nice, but his performance was really, really boring and blah. It's not his fault, because his next single is a weak song in general, but if he had sung something a little more lively it would have made a difference. He also officially received a plaque courtesy of 19E and RCA Records for his album going platinum, so all in all it was great to see Cook back again (even though the whole thing was pre-taped).

Then there was Lady Gaga. Many Idol viewers had no idea what she looked like before last night, only knowing her voice from hearing her #1 hits "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" on the radio. But after last night, few will forget her name or her face, which looked like that of a freaked-out mannequin at Macy's at the end of her performance. She could probably stand at Madame Tussuad's wax museum among the other figurines and no one would know it's really her.

But her performance was something else, as it went progressively downhill. It began with a haunting unplugged session with her right at a glass piano sounding very solid vocals-wise, then went into a crazy Britney Spears-esque, choreographed-to-the-brim spectacle complete with shadow dancers and bad vocals. She seems to be two entirely different people, or someone with a very bad case of bipolar disorder. Either way, the performance was no doubt miles more entertaining than Cook's.

As for the group performance, it appears enough brouhaha over the revelation that they are in fact lip-synched has died down to allow the finalists to return to their usual "live" performances, only the song selection mixed with less hectic choreography made the whole thing more watchable than usual. Scott still hasn't left the piano's side, but something tells me that's not going to change.

And then there was the whole reality portion of the show that has been a major letdown compared to what the producers were hyping the segments up to be. So we got to see Scott eating quadruple chocolate cake and Kris' commentary on what he thinks of the photographers asking him to make a "sexy face" during the shoots. So what? They were making it sound like we'd be watching Big Brother: Idol Style before the season started. I'm not complaining, because that would add a whole 'nother unnecessary component to the show, but still it's a bit annoying.

What was funny, though, was when they all were doing impersonations of each other. Allison's take on Danny singing "PYT" and "Jesus, Take the Wheel" were probably the most spot on, but Danny also did a good job going after Matt and Anoop had fun pretending to be Kris. Sure, they were probably rehearsed, but they were still great to see.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, I am now 0-5 with my original predictions because I had Kris going home originally. I was once again correct with my pre-results show predix, though, as I got it right that Megan would be flying home, but as for the B3 I had Scott in there over Allison. That makes me 2-5 in that predicting category.

The theme for next Tuesday will be songs from the Top 8's birth years, which means we'll probably be hearing a lot of British Rock and Journey. Caw! Caw!

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Poll of the week: Kris is #1 again (no joke)

The Top 9 finalists raked in a good amount of votes in IDOL LIVE's most recent poll of the week, with Kris once again coming out on top. Kris managed to receive 33 votes, or 27% of the total take. This is the third week he has received the most amount of votes in the poll of the week series.

Adam was runner-up again, taking in 27 votes (22%), while Danny came in third with 20 votes (16%). In her final week, Megan could only muster six votes for 4% of the votes cast.

In this week's poll of the week, readers are asked to vote for their Top 8 favorite finalist. You will have exactly six days to vote.

Kris Allen 33 (27%)
Megan Joy Corkrey 6 (4%)
Anoop Desai 12 (9%)
Matt Giraud 6 (4%)
Danny Gokey 20 (16%)
Allison Iraheta 13 (10%)
Adam Lambert 27 (22%)
Scott MacIntyre 3 (2%)
Lil Rounds 2 (1%)

Total votes: 122

Running total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
10th - Michael Sarver (8 votes)
09th - Megan Joy Corkrey (48 votes)
08th - Lil Rounds (2 votes)
07th - Scott MacIntyre (17 votes)
06th - Matt Giraud (25 votes)
05th - Allison Iraheta (41 votes)
04th - Anoop Desai (64 votes)
03rd - Adam Lambert (109 votes)
02nd - Danny Gokey (119 votes)
01st - Kris Allen (135 votes)

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IDOL LIVE predix: Top 9 Results

Last night's "top downloads" non-theme allowed for a few good efforts and a majority of forgettable and/or disappointing spectacles, which will be reflected in tonight's results. While the top three contestants were in a different league that the others' last night, there were six finalists that will play musical chairs to avoid landing in the bottom three, never mind elimination.

Without further ado, here are my predictions for the Top 9 results:


Tonight should go relatively according to plan:

Bottom 3
>Scott, Anoop, Megan

Bottom 2
>Anoop, Megan

Eliminated
>Megan

This is the curtain call. The final straw. The last hurrah. The end of the road. Whatever you want to call it, Megan's time on this show has run dry. She was cute for a little bit, then her vocals got really annoying really fast and she could never get out of her rut no matter how badly the judges (specifically Kara) wanted her to improve so as to not make them look dumb for putting her through as a wild card in the first place.

Scott will most likely land in the bottom three for a second week in a row because even though he gave a substantially better performance than the previous few weeks, he got a fair amount of praise from Simon that could in fact be his signature reverse psychology. Although it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to see Allison in there over him.

And then there's Anoop, who will come dangerously close to elimination tonight thanks to his jittery, karaoke-like tribute to Usher last night. He will land in the bottom two along with Megan, but the judges will not be forced to use their immunity on him because Megan will ultimately be the one leaving.

In my original predictions, I had Kris Allen going, but there's next to no chance of that happening thanks to the fact that he was in the pimp spot last night and he far and away delivered the strongest performance.

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About last night: Play that funky music till you get eliminated

Last night's Top 9 performances showed that sometimes having a broad theme is not kind to finalists. Case in point: the "top downloads" theme was pretty much a wash, with songs by Billy Joel and even Celine Dion being acceptable. Since when are those songs considered to be "popular downloads"? Ryan's way of describing the theme itself was even discombobulated.

Before getting down to business Ryan was sure to ask Paula if she was hiding any props under the table, to which she answered in the negative. Simon was looking forward to Ryan and the artists being amazing, which was a nice thing for him to say.

Kicking off the night was Anoop, whose ill-advised foray into Usher territory was not the right way to begin things. His vocals on "Caught Up" were not all that bad, but the performance was all but a shadow of the real thing. When it came to the dancing portion of the performance, it was clear things were not going to recover. The judges' critiques were not anything to write home about, either. Look for Anoop to land in the bottom three tonight, especially after his snippy exchange with Kara.

When it came time for Megan to perform, things didn't go any smoother than usual considering she actually got to pick a song that she thought would showcase her talent well. Instead, she opted for "" by Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill, which may be a good song in its own right, but it sounded really out of place with her vocals on it. She sure looked the part, though, opting for a younger look this week. The fact that her major proponent, Kara, didn't even like it make things an uphill battle for Megan this week. Look for a definite bottom three appearance, with the high likelihood that she will be departing in ninth place.

Other disappointments last night include Lil's borefest on "I Surrender" and Scott's better-than-usual-but-still-not-good "I Love You Just the Way You Are." Simon's frustration with Lil is becoming more apparent each week, as he told her flat out "you've got to stop this" because she is a "much better" singer than the performance. Randy and Kara were all about name dropping when critiquing Lil, saying she should has picked a song by Keyshia Cole or Mariah Carey in order to sound more current.

As for Scott, Simon must have been using reverse psychology on him because he really was as good (or average) as usual. He just changed his look up a bit, which apparently can make him sound better than usual according to Simon. Paula should have held her own and stuck to her criticism of Scott relying on his baby grand as a crutch, because sooner or later he will need to switch it up.

Allison was not nearly as good as she was last week, but for the judges to pick her apart because of her Avril Lavigne-like wardrobe? That shows poor judgment. What is this, Project Runway? Allison may not be Gwen Stefani, but her rock edge shown through on her rendition of "Don't Speak." Regardless, she still has a strong possibility of landing in the bottom three tonight.

Someone that was pretty underrated last night was surely Matt Giraud, as his take on The Fray's "You Found Me" was not nearly as bad as the judges made it out to be. There were some off moments, but Matt showed that he could grab the attention of an audience and encapsulate them in his performance.

Whatever nonsense Randy and Kara were talking about with OneRepublic's "Apologize" should be disregarded by Matt, and he had a point when he told Kara he wanted to show that he's more than just an R&B artist when she basically gave him an ultimatum to either pick Pop/Rock or Pop/R&B as a genre to focus on. Apparently Kara does not believe artists should be well-versed in multiple genres of music.

And then there was Adam, who blew the roof off the house with his eccentric version of Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music." It's not hard to do so when the song is a little on the wild side to begin with, but Adam managed to take the performance to a whole 'nother level, complete with screeching and shrieking. It definitely was not nearly as much of a credibility-builder as "The Tracks of My Tears," but it did what it was supposed to do for Adam. Paula's "shattering genius" comment was as far fetched as usual, while Simon kept it more real by saying at least it wasn't karaoke like many of the night's other performances.

Danny, on the other hand, was actually able to make people forget about last week's controversial performance with a heartwarming rendition of Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most." While it wasn't perfect, the overall effect was powerful especially taking Danny's past into consideration. Paula and Kara gushed over the performance (what else is new?) while Simon validated the craziness by saying it was Danny's best effort yet. Maybe this exhibition will win over a lot of the naysayers? Probably not.

And Kris hands down had the best performance of the night, but he did not have a "moment." Moments only happen when they are unexpected and when the finalist states prior to the performance that he is trying to create a moment, things are just not as meaningful. Had Kris not said this in his pre-performance clip, though, he definitely would have had a moment.

Putting semantics aside, the vocals were a perfect fit for a perfect song choice, and the fact that he began the song unplugged added to the effect. Paula was absolutely correct about Kris taking a 30 some-odd-year-old song sound brand new, which demonstrates that Kris can certainly be taken as a relevant, current artist.

The tell tale sign of just what America thought of last night will not be who lands in the (alleged) bottom three, but who ultimately goes home. There is only one finalist that deserves to leave, if that person does not leave, there will be questions that will need answering.

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Analysis: Mini-surprise livens up Top 10 results

In a night filled of fake-outs, big surprises and not so big surprises, Idol hit a high mark with last night's results show. Yes, it felt extremely rushed and a few things could have been cut out to ease the pace (*cough*SmokeyandJossStone'sduet*cough*), but all in all it was the best results show of the season.

Breezing through Ryan's witty tease with Kara over her botched "six words" critique of Adam and his lame attempt to rekindle Paula's crayons (or crowns, according to Ryan) joke on Simon, which resulted in Simon saying they "got a room" after the show, we got to see just how well the Top 10 sounds when its group performance is pre-taped (even though we already know how it sounds when the track is pre-recorded). Bravo to whoever thought of that quick fix to the lip-synching scandal.

The performance could have been done without actually, but it was not the lowest point of last night. That came when the second guest performance set took the stage in Joss Stone and Motown week's mentor, Smokey Robinson. Although Smokey proved to be a wise pick in coaching the finalists, his creepy singfest with the much younger Joss was boring with a capital B, not to mention their vocals did not mesh well together whatsoever.

But second season winner Ruben Studdard sounded awesome on his new single "Together," as the slimmed down (and newly-married, as Ryan pointed out) velvet teddy bear reminded the audience why he won his season despite being far from where he began success-wise at the moment. What was particularly bothersome was how Ruben was hurried off the stage, only having time for a quick exchange with Ryan before he got down to the night's results.

As for the results, the announcement that Matt was in the bottom three was certainly not expected, as the studio erupted with audience members voicing their dissent. Even Matt himself seemed a little surprised, and understandably so. But this just goes to show that either performing first or having the producers play games for ratings can be a round trip ticket to the B3, depending on which explanation you prefer to subscribe to. Either way, there was no way Matt had the third-lowest votes of the night. No way.

Michael and Scott were both expected to be in the B3, and that is exactly where they wound up. But Randy's suggestion that Matt did not belong with the both of them was a sign of what was next to come, as Ryan told Scott that he would be back next week to perform (but hey, at least Randy didn't get Matt's name wrong). Again, the thunderous outcry from the audience members was a sign that people were genuinely shocked that Matt could be in the Bottom 2.

Then came yet another guest performer in Stevie Wonder, who tore up the house but could have done without the tired shout outs to President Obama and American Idol. Still, he was able to get the entire Top 10 (including Michael and Matt) on its feet dancing along, with Kris even enthusiastically mouthing the words and Lil bowing down to him in an "I am not worthy" motion. One thing he was not able to accomplish, however, was getting Simon on his feet. That is something that man will probably never do on this show.

But when it came time for the results, no one was surprised. Michael, who many pegged as being a "WTF?" pick for the Top 13 in the first place, showed that he can bow out with grace and poise, smiling all the while. When he sang "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" one last time for the judges to allegedly discuss whether or not to use their tool on him, it was apparent that not everyone was digging the idea of having a pow wow. Paula was up dancing the night away, clapping along and only briefly nodded her head when Kara tried to get a word in. The others barely spoke at all, and when it came time for them to give their verdict, spokesman Sir Cowell claimed they had not reached a consensus, instead asking Paula "yes or no?"

But in the end, of course the judges did not waste their immunity on the oil rigger, as his name is not Adam, Danny or Lil. The fact that Michael was able to depart with his spirits high speaks volumes.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, I am now 0-4 with my original predictions because I had Jorge going home originally. I was actually right on with my pre-results show predix, though, as I correctly guessed Michael would be striking out even though I had Megan in the Bottom 3 rather than Matt and Scott in the Bottom 2 rather than Matt. That makes me 1-4 in that predicting category.

Next Tuesday, either rock songs or selections from the iTunes Top 100 chart will be performed on the Idol stage if rumblings are to be believed.

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Poll of the week: Kris continues his crusade

The Top 10 leg of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week series was pretty much more of the same, with Kris Allen once again taking the lead with 36 votes in all, good for 26% of the total vote. This marks the first week that Kris is ahead of Danny in overall votes.

Adam was up next with 30 votes (22%), taking over for Danny in the second spot. Danny was third with 24 votes (17%). The only other two finalists to garner 10 votes or more were Anoop with 11 votes (8%) and Megan with 10 votes (7%).

Michael, who left the show in 10th place tonight, only received 1 vote for the week, composing less than 1% of the total votes cast.

In this week's poll of the week, readers are asked to vote for their Top 9 favorite finalist. You will have exactly six days to vote.

Kris Allen 36 (26%)
Megan Joy Corkrey 10 (7%)
Anoop Desai 11 (8%)
Matt Giraud 9 (6%)
Danny Gokey 24 (17%)
Allison Iraheta 9 (6%)
Adam Lambert 30 (22%)
Scott MacIntyre 4 (2%)
Lil Rounds 1 (0%)
Michael Sarver 1 (0%)

Total votes: 135

Running total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
10th - Michael Sarver (8 votes)
09th - Lil Rounds (9 votes)
08th - Scott MacIntyre (14 votes)
07th - Matt Giraud (19 votes)
06th - Allison Iraheta (28 votes)
05th - Megan Corkrey (42 votes)
04th - Anoop Desai (52 votes)
03rd - Adam Lambert (82 votes)
02nd - Danny Gokey (99 votes)
01st - Kris Allen (102 votes)

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IDOL LIVE predix: Top 10 Results

After a night of a few good (and mostly bad) Motown performances, the bottom three could not be any more crystal clear. Once we get down to who will actually be leaving, however, things seem a little trickier, but either way no one will be surprised with who is eliminated tonight.

With that said, read my predictions for how tonight will go below:


Tonight will go as follows:

Bottom 3
>Megan, Scott, Michael

Bottom 2
>Scott, Michael

Eliminated
>Michael

The bottom three will without a doubt be Megan, Scott and Michael, which is weird because the three worst performances are not usually also the bottom three vote-getters. Megan will be sent back to the couches to caw some more next week because we can't have a Top 9 with only two girls. We just can't.

The real challenge then becomes deciding whether or not it will be Scott or Michael getting the heave-ho. It really becomes a toss up, as Scott has been running on fumes for weeks now, whereas Michael just had a worse performance than usual. Michael's post-performance comments also didn't do him any favors, even though he did seem to be appealing on an emotional wavelength.

For these reasons, I predict that Michael will be leaving us tonight and will not even have to worry about singing for his life to be spared because there's just no use, giving Scott one more week to play his baby grand before millions.

In my original predictions I had Jorge departing in 10th, which obviously won't be happening.

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About last night: Leaping Lamberts and Smiley Smokey

Motown (the record label, not the genre) has given the world many things as Ryan so astutely pointed out during an intro montage last night. None of which were intended to be whiny renditions of its songs sung by kids on a TV show.

Last night saw three to four good performances and a whole lot of copycat, boring and forgettable ones. Even with Smokey Robinson there to flash his pearly whites in hopes of raising the Top 10's confidence, it just was not enough to sustain the show. And don't even start with Paula's gifts of crayons (or crowns as Ryan called them) and coloring books from under her skirt to Simon mid-show. The fact that he actually touched them after that puts him down a few rankings in our book.

Matt kicked off the night with a way overpraised rendition of "Let's Get It On," which showed even the piano cannot hide crackling vocals. The perplexing part of the whole thing was that even Simon was caught up in the act (besides pointing out his cheesy move toward the judges' table), proclaiming him to be one of the front runners.

Kris was next with "How Sweet It Is," and his vocals were far superior to Matt's. He did, however, lack stage presence in comparison, which was something Simon pointed out when he likened his standing position to waiting at a bus stop. Randy made the most peculiar critique when he said Kris "ain't doing nothing wrong, baby." Kris was a bit forgettable tonight but he most likely won't be going anywhere tonight.

Another finalists that received too much praise was Lil, whose take on the classic "Heatwave" was complete with Burger King background flames and infrequent screaming outbursts. Although Lil looked much better tonight than she did a week ago, her vocals were copycatish and she did not stand out from the crowd, which most of the judges pointed out. Simon and Paula just had to go and partially excuse the performance as a "tribute" to the greats of the past because she got so emotional at the Motown Museum last week. Please guys, that's no excuse for giving an underwhelming performance. Add in the impromptu "Obama!" outburst at the end of Paula's mindless "you could run for president" comment and it made for an off night for Lil.

Danny, on the other hand, opted for a strong performance and light vocals with "Get Ready," which drew some Taylor Hicks comparisons (which is never good on this show). The fact that he ignored Smokey's advice to sing with the backup singers in certain parts even though he said in his pre-performance package that he'd be listening to the advice (and this served as the entire premise of the video, mind you). Although to be fair, we do not know if they decided it would not work well over the course of rehearsals or whatever. Anything could have happened and Danny will probably be forced to answer the burning question tonight while sitting on the couches.

Anoop was good once again this week on "Ooh, Baby Baby," but the word "boring" could not escape him. Simon was sure to mention this in his critique, saying he looked "half asleep" throughout the performance. Be that as it may, it was still leagues better than "Beat It" in Top 13 week.

But the absolute worst three finalists last night were without question Megan, Scott and Michael. Megan's jazzed up "For Once In My Life" was all over the place, full of bum notes and a "too fast for you and your tattoo" tempo. Scott's "You Can't Hurry Love" was haphazardly prepared and rushed in addition to featuring ultra nasal vocals. And Michael's seemingly good song choice in "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" was anything but, prompting Paula to steal a line from Simon's playbook by calling it "Las Vegas loungey," which earned her a few boos from the audience. Paula was visibly distraught over actually having to do her job as a judge, while Simon was more blunt in saying Michael has "no shot at winning." Barring a major shocker, hese three will be tonight's bottom three and the stupid immunity will not be wasted.

And then there was Adam, who did a complete 180 from last week's crash and burn and instead opted for a polished look and soft, tender vocals on Smokey's own "Tracks of My Tears." Although not the best of the night, Adam showed that he could still switch it up and put on many different hats in this competition even though his falsetto is as grating as getting a root canal. It was an improvement, of course, but nowhere near worthy of the endless praise the judges bestowed upon him. Kara's "I don't stand up often but I have to after that" slosh and Simon's "you have emerged as a star tonight" comment were just part of it, followed by Ryan's suggestion that they go right to the numbers because there was "nothing else to say." We'll see if he can sustain this momentum.

The best the night had to offer didn't come until the very end, when Allison brought out her funky aggressiveness on "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." Allison, although a bit dead behind the eyes, surely knows how to rock it out to the best of her ability. She was able to command the stage unlike anyone else and hit notes that many didn't know she could. Kara said it sounded like she had been singing for 400 years (is that why she's hoarse?) and Simon said she recovered from last week. DialIdol would support this claim for sure.

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Poll of the week: Kris-crosses Danny for the week

In IDOL LIVE"s poll of the week series for the Top 11 we had a new champ. Kris was able to steal Danny's thunder, scoring 40 votes (22%) to Danny's 38 votes (21%). Danny is still ahead overall, but not by much.

Adam placed third for the second week in a row, only this time his 31 votes (17%) were way ahead of Megan's 11 votes (6%). As for Alexis, it is easy to see why she left based on the amount of fanfare she has been generating among IDOL LIVE readers. Alexis only scored four votes this week (2%), amounting to six votes in all.

In this week's poll of the week, readers are asked to vote for their Top 10 favorite finalist. You will have exactly eight days to vote.

Kris Allen 40 (22%)
Megan Corkrey 11 (6%)
Anoop Desai 21 (11%)
Matt Giraud 6 (3%)
Danny Gokey 38 (21%)
Alexis Grace 4 (2%)
Allison Iraheta 13 (7%)
Adam Lambert 31 (17%)
Scott MacIntyre 4 (2%)
Lil Rounds 4 (2%)
Michael Sarver 6 (3%)

Total votes: 178

Running total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
10th - Michael Sarver (7 vote)
09th - Lil Rounds (8 votes)
08th - Matt Giraud (10 votes)
06th - Scott MacIntyre (10 votes)
07th - Allison Iraheta (19 votes)
04th - Megan Corkrey (32 votes)
05th - Anoop Desai (41 votes)
03rd - Adam Lambert (52 votes)
02nd - Kris Allen (66 votes)
01st - Danny Gokey (75 votes)

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About last night: Weird arrangements and nice surprises on GOO night

With such low expectations put in place for Grand Ole Opry night, it was hard for anything to come off seeming awful last night. That's not to say that there weren't a few near misses, though.

In what can only be described as a weird assortment of attempts at doing country music right, Matt, who took a major risk by singing a Carrie Underwood song (something no one on this show should ever do), led the 10 others with the best offering from the bunch. What helped Matt out was the stripping down of "So Small" so that it was just his soulful vocals, the piano and the song's inspirational lyrics that left an impression on the judges. Paula standing up, rocking to the song mid-performance was a head-scratcher, though (as was Simon's covering of Paula's mouth before Matt's pre-performance package was shown).

A note to Simon, though: Matt is nothing like Michael Buble. I can see the Justin Timberfake comparisons as well as the Jason Mraz ones, but I could never picture Matt singing the standards. It just wouldn't work. So no more "Matt Buble," please.

Following right behind Matt in terms of solid performances was Anoop. The positive feedback he received from the judges for his tackling of Willie Nelson's "You Were Always On My Mind" was definitely warranted and proved why he is still around after last week's disastrous performance. His smooth R&B vocals glided over the subtle string accompaniment, something that had not happened with the 'noop dawg until now.

There were again a few overrated performances, as Megan's hokey "Walkin' After Midnight" (in between coughs) was just barely listenable at best. Yes, it is true that Megan has the flu, as Paula pointed out so viciously, but that happens in real life. And this is supposed to be sort of like real life...so she might as well get used to it, suck it up and go on with the show. And Kara needs to stop with her lovefest over Megan. It's getting old really fast.

Michael and Scott were probably tied for weakest performance of the night, but Scott at least injected humor into his delivery ("we could always move the piano closer!") despite his snooze-a-thon on Martina McBride's "Wild Angels." Michael was just...there...and even though Garth Brooks was probably the perfect match for him this week, he just does not belong singing the genre.

Simon's spat with Paula during Scott's critiques was one of the highlights of last night, as Simon was 100% right about leaving Scott alone for using the piano two weeks in a row. Paula's "crutch" comment came off as being really low and tasteless, and made her look like a bigger buffoon than usual.

But the biggest WTF moment of last night was undoubtedly Adam's overtly-campy take on the Johnny Cash classic "Ring of Fire." The middle eastern citar-tastic arrangement mixed with his gross sultry/screechy vocals was something out of an 1930s eastern European freak show, and even Kara had trouble spitting out words to describe it. Simon was right on the mark when he called it "indulgent," and Randy needs to get his ears checked if he thinks that's what Trent Reznor would sound like doing country. Don't get me wrong, though, it was mesmerizing and was the biggest spectacle of the night. The showing continues to support the idea that Adam is without a doubt a great performer. He's just not Idol material.

Alexis and Allison were both forgettable last night, with the former's "Jolene" being a far cry from Brooke White's rendition last season and the latter's "Blame It On Your Heart" was a good vocal showcase but the performance itself was lackluster. Look for the two girls to be in the danger zone tonight.

Believe it or not, Danny was one of the more overrated finalists last night. His rendition of Carrie Underwood's untouchable "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was good to a point, but seemed a little disorganized. Even though Kara's comment about wishing he had done more of the second half than the boring first half was dimwitted, so was Paula's comment about Carrie wanting to rush out and buy his version of the song. Randy probably made the most sense with his critique for once.

If there's one thing Kris showed last night, it was the notion that consistency is key to lengthening your stay on this show. Even with his guitar taking the night off he was able to show that song choice can make or break how one fares, as he picked a perfect choice of "To Make You Feel My Love." If Kris can keep this up, he might just be the dark horse in the competition.

And then there was Lil, falling far from her high and mighty perch last week. By picking "Independence Day," Lil was thinking in the right direction despite Randy's suggestion that she should have gone for the predictable "I Will Always Love You" or "How Do I Live." So she scores points for trying something new. She loses them for failing to deliver a convincing effort.

After all the surprises and weirdness of last night, it would be hard to see anyone other than Michael, Scott or Alexis leaving tonight. Look for my predictions later on this morning. In the mean time, who do you think is on their way out tonight?

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Analysis: So that was the "secret," eh?

Now that the top secret twist is out in plain view, it's time we take a look at the repercussions (if any) that will be felt as a result. First of all, it's not nearly as bad as many suspected. The rampant rumor was that the judges would get to have the bottom two finalists have a "sing-off" and then they would decide who would go home each week. That would have been downright awful.

In the actual scenario, the judges will only get grant immunity to one finalist once during the entire season, and the option expires Top 5 week. What's important to stress is that the next-lowest vote-getter would not be eliminated, rather there would be a double elimination the following week. That is doable I guess, but it's a little pointless. The only thing it will be held onto for is the possibility of an Adam/Danny/Lil pre-Top 5 exit, which is just not going to happen anyway. So we'll see if there's any valid reason for this threat being brought into the judges' arsenal.

Oh, and Ryan - under this system, Chris Daughtry and Tamyra Gray would not have been able to be saved, as they were both eliminated during Top 4 week. So next time maybe you should have your aide(s) do your homework for you.

Now, back to the actual results. It was no surprise that a combination of Jorge/Megan/Jasmine were going to be eliminated last night, so they did their best to hype up the suspense. Putting Megan with Jasmine for the first "bottom 2" was a good idea, as she was probably really in the bottom 3 or just outside it. Putting Anoop with Jorge was deceiving, though, as he in fact received much more votes than they made it seem like he did. Allison Iraheta most likely should have been standing down there but to make it seem more believable, they decided to place someone who delivered a not so great performance in synthetic peril.

Jasmine's elimination proved that wild card picks don't always work out. Plus, there were a half-dozen girls that belonged in the Top 13 over her, but the judges had to find out they made a mistake the hard way. Doesn't matter, they won't learn regardless. Jasmine did the best she could do with "I'll Be There," but it did come across as being very pageanty and usually doing ballads sandwiched in between better and more memorable performances will lead to an exit. She did her best to control her emotions but keeping in mind that she's still only 17, she should not be ashamed of anything about her time on Idol. Ryan was actually useful last night as he comforted her.

Then there was Jorge, who would have been out early regardless of what he sang Tuesday and only got into the finals thanks to a fluke of a performance in Group 3. But picking a song with "Goodbye" in the title is never a good idea, so that just added to the Peurto Rican's problems. Simon might have been a little too blunt when he said "No. Sorry." after being asked by Ryan if the judges were going to exercise their saving grace on Jorge. But that's just Simon for you.

Kanye West performed his single "Heartless," which pretty much described the performance itself. The fact that it was pretaped was extremely noticeable and took away from what little excitement there was.

The highlight of the night was without a doubt Kelly Clarkson's return to the Idol stage to perform "My Life Would Suck Without You." She was her very own self in her pre-performance chat with old pal Ryan, giggling and joking about herself. The fact that she did her performance live added to the energy, as opposed to that other guy who was just used as filler. It goes without saying that Kelly is just in a league of her own in comparison to the current batch of hopefuls. There's just no way to say any of them match up to her at the moment, performance or vocals-wise.

Next week's theme, Grand Ol' Opry, should be fun for most, not for some (I mean you, Megan). Wonder if Adam will pick a Dolly song? Maybe Danny will do a hoe down to further show off his awesome dancing skills? It all remains to be seen. Plus Carrie Underwood will perform "I Told You So." You can't go wrong with that, now can you?

IDOL LIVE's predictions so far are not going too hot. For my original predictions, I incorrectly predicted Megan leaving 13th and Michael departing 12th, so I'm 0-2 in that respect. As for my pre-results predictions, I got the two eliminated finalists right, but the order wrong (predicted Jorge 13th, Jasmine 12th). So I'm also 0-2 in that department. It should be easier from here on out because we (hopefully) won't have to deal with any more of these ridiculous double elimination.

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IDOL LIVE predix: Top 13 Results

Just as I was starting to get into the swing of things the judges have to go and invoke their "special privelege" of being able to decide which lucky bottom 3 barnacle receives a get out of jail free pass. At least that's what everyone is under the impression will happen. Under the old regime, one person would most definitely be going home, but this time around it appears they will in fact be saved.

Read my predictions below (if you dare).

Here are tonight's possible bottom 3 scenarios:

Scenario 1:

Bottom 3
>Jorge, Megan, Jasmine

After the three perform one more time for the judges, Megan is given immunity.

Eliminated:
>Jorge (13th), Jasmine (12th)

Scenario 2:

Bottom 3
>Jasmine, Megan, Jorge

Jasmine is sent back to the couches.

Eliminated:
>Jorge (13th), Megan (12th)

So scenario #1 is looking to be the best bet to happen tonight, and it is not surprising that Megan will ultimately be the one given safety because the judges are in love with her (and her tattoo) despite the good possibility that she had the lowest vote totals of the bunch. There's no way of getting around the fact that Jorge was the worst last night, so he has to be out, and Jasmine will be lumped in with the "forgotten" category so the judges won't bother giving her a third chance at staying in the competition.

And nevermind what DialIdol is predicting this week because finalists 13-6 are all way too close together, so no need to worry about Allison or Kris leaving tonight.

Hopefully scenario #2 happens, but it doesn't look promising. My original predictions for the 13th- and 12th-place finishers were Megan and Michael, respectively, and one of those will most definitely not be going home. The other has a slight chance but probably won't thanks to the new X-Factor judges' manipulation tool.

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IDOL LIVE predix: How the Top 13 will place (and who will win)

After correctly predicting eight out of 13 finalists from the Top 36 before any of them took the stage for America to make its judgments and predicting 10 of 13 for the finalists after each group of finalists performed, including Thursday's wild card.

Now it's time to get down to business, as the much trickier task of pegging how each finalist will finish in the Idol horse race must be performed. There are a few good possibilities to consider in making this forecast, but one wrong placing and the whole prediction could be derailed.

After giving the scenarios careful thought, you can read my predictions below.

The Top 13 of American Idol: Season 8 (ordered by predicted place of elimination)

13th-place finalist:
>Megan Corkrey

Megan (is her last name now Joy?) has all the makings of a Melissa McGhee run on Idol. She gets into the Top 13 by a hair on a less than stellar performance (at the hands of the judges, mind you) and she has a unique voice that is pretty polarizing. Couple these facts with handing Megan the tough task of tackling the music of Michael Jackson this week and we have a carbon copy of Melissa's elimination in Season 5.

12th-place finalist:
>Michael Sarver

Assuming this week is a double elimination to get the show back on schedule (unless they're gunning for a dreaful Top 3 finale this time around), this should be the last time we hear from Michael until the finale. Michael is one of those finalists that would not have made the Top 13 had he been placed in a more competitive group, or maybe if he had been just placed in one of the two later groups. He is unfortunately stuck in the finals now, and will be handed a heavy amount of criticism until he is sent packing. Michael's a nice oil rigger, but he's not right for this show. If this week does not see two contestants being given their plane tickets home, expect to see a departure next Wednesday.

11th-place finalist:
>Jasmine Murray

Another wild card pick that many could not explain, Jasmine will skate by the first week or two thanks to the fact that there are weaker competitors, but her time will run up quick because she just does not have the likability factor that many others have. Not to mention she's not nearly the best vocalist, and that fact will remain the same no matter how many times Kara uses the c-word (commercial) to describe her.

10th-place finalist
>Jorge Nunez

Thanks to a surprisingly strong performance Jorge was able to secure a spot in the Top 13 over more probable (and more deserving) contestants, which is a great testament to his ability to connect with audiences. That said, now that he has got the go-ahead to bring his accent back, Jorge's singing will be affected (whether or not this is a positive thing is up to the voting public). Not to mention Grand Ole Opry week is going to be a mess for him.

9th-place finalist:
>Kris Allen

Kris has a lot of things going for him. Ask the girls and they'll most likely say they like him for his looks (or they'll do a good job trying to deny that's the real reason they like him), he gave a great performance in the semifinals and has been able to overcome the tough task of impacting audiences after little to no air time before reaching the Top 36. The one thing going against him, however, is that he's on a battlefield with stronger performers, which will allow him to go only so far. It is entirely possible that Kris could be a dark horse and make it farther, but I wouldn't bet on it. Still, a ninth-place finish is nothing to sneeze at.

8th-place finalist:
>Alexis Grace

Alexis is caught between a rock and a hard place. She came out strong amid an extremely weak group of girls and made it through in the same way Michael did, whereas if she had been in any other group she probably would not have advanced. She has a nice soulful voice but lacks universal appeal, and could be described as very forgettable. Unless she can muster a showstopper that could elevate her stature for a few more weeks, she will exit the show in eighth place.

7th-place finalist:
>Matt Giraud

Despite Simon's comments about his outfit last Thursday, Matt appeals to the core demographic of this show. He has a style similar to Elliott Yamin's and proved that he can play a mean piano back in Hollywood when he sang "Georgia" by Ray Charles. This will only give him a leg up on other finalists, but it will not be enough to send him past seventh place. Matt will begin to be seen as bland and will suffer from lukewarm critiques from the judges with the exception of Simon, who will lay it on him the second he goes off key.

6th-place finalist:
>Scott MacIntyre

Scott is a really nice guy with an average voice. He is not winning material, and will cause a lot of controversy by making it further than some of the "stronger" vocalists (Kris, Matt). Although it is not fair to compare him to Season 3's John Stevens, Scott will see a similar run, eating up the granny vote and delivering a lot of slow ballads week after week. Still, Scott's ability to finally show off his piano skills onstage will bring a different weapon to his arsenal, which should be enough to propel him into the upper half of the Top 13.

5th-place finalist:
>Allison Iraheta

Allison is different. She's young. And she's got a lot of spunk. These three characteristics alone will be enough to launch her through the first half of the finals. Once things get down to business, though, her distinct vocals will begin to wear and tear after being subjected to "Olivia Newton John week" or "Reggaeton week" (not real themes, just wild guesses) and she will be seen as a two- to three-trick pony. It always helps to have Miley Cyrus' endorsement, but unless Miley sends MySpace bulletins to her fans reminding them to vote for Allison, it probably won't matter much past the Top 5. She will make a name for herself while on the show, but things will come to a close at this point.

4th-place finalist:
>Anoop Desai

Anoop is the one wild card pick that will stand the test of time, making it into the coveted Top 4 thanks to a combination of his soulful vocals and personality (and maybe just because it's fun to hear Ryan and the judges say his name, dog). Despite this, he is really not the stuff winners are made of, and so things will catch up with him when he's left standing next to three performers that are out of his league. Still, this is an excellent showing for a geeky guy from Chapel Hill, and he will take away a lot from his experience, whether or not he decides to pursue music as a career.

3rd-place finalist:
>Adam Lambert

One word that describes Adam quite well is "unique." That is usually a good trait to have when competing on this show, but in his case he is just too unique to win the whole shebang. Adam will deliver spectacles through his performances on a weekly basis, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, he will not win over enough of the voting public because of his counterculture status. He still should have a successful career on Broadway when all is said and done.

Runner-up:
>Lil Rounds

The much hyped, much talked about Lil would win this show if it were Season 3 or maybe even Season 6, but she can't win Season 8. As already stated by the judges and co., a guy will take the title this season. That rules Lil out, no matter how poised and how consistent she may be. It will still be an exciting finale with her in it, and the judges will love it because they love her. Besides, the finales are always a little more interesting when there are two members of the opposite sex competing against each other. The only thing that could ruin this finale, though, would be if a Top 3 finale was installed to make up for choosing a baker's dozen to represent the finalists, and in that case Lil would have even less of a chance to win it.

Winner:
>Danny Gokey

And then we're left with Danny Gokey. If he can weather the ridiculous "using his dead wife to advance" complaint that's being sloshed around the net at the moment, he will surely fit the bill of an Idol winner. Who can't picture Danny on the stage at the Kodak/Nokia singing an ultra cheesy power ballad with multicolored confetti showering down on a screaming audience? Things that will help Danny make it to this point are overpraise from judges, his knack for choosing the right song and great vocals. Not to mention all the other finalists seem to be saying great things about him as a person. If he does not win, it would not be the biggest surprise, but it really does seem like this is the year of the Gokey, whether we like it or not.

And there we have it. Each week I will compare my original predictions with how things turn out in reality in addition to making revised predictions depending on the circumstances each week. Hopefully things go better than my Top 12 and Top 36 predictions. (Photos courtesy of AmericanIdol.com).

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