Top Three Sing on American Idol

After the controversy of last week on American Idol, I would have thought that this week’s show would have started with some sort of mention of the mayhem. Even just an acknowledgment that everyone has been talking about it, or a statement that the voting system worked fine – that they checked it out and everything. But there was nothing, which was kind of strange.

Speaking of last week, did anyone but me catch Chris Daughtry on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this morning? Oh my goodness. It was phenomenal. If you live somewhere that re-runs the show, make sure you see it. He played the guitar (and, by the way, he’s an amazing guitar player) and sang “Wanted: Dead or Alive.” I would pay to see that performance live. Really. Just that one song. Wow.

Tonight’s show featured three songs for each contestant – one chosen by legendary producer Clive Davis, one chosen by the judges, and one chosen by the contestant. With all these songs, there won’t be any time for banter…thank goodness.

Elliott kicked off the show with his Clive Davis song choice, “Open Arms.” Davis said he wanted Elliott to try a rock song, but that’s not really a rock song. It sounded pretty good…I think that the fact that this was the first song of three will really help him.

Paula chose “What You Won’t Do For Love” for Elliott’s second song. It was a good choice...definitely an “Elliott” kind of song. His final song, “I Believe to My Soul” was an odd choice. He sang it really well though, and I think his performances built through the night.

Katharine’s Clive Davis song was “I Believe I Can Fly,” which sounded like it was a tough choice…the song is so overplayed. She did put her own twist on it, and I’m sure that singing the song in that dress (hello cleavage!) didn’t hurt either. I didn’t understand Randy’s criticism of her song choice, and I was glad that Katharine talked back a bit about it. Even Simon recognized that she couldn’t do anything about the song choice, and she did a good job with what she had to sing. Simon chose Katharine’s second song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” It was a beautiful version, especially the a capella part in the beginning. That might win her the competition. Katharine’s final song was an older song, “I Aint Got Nothing But the Blues.” I don’t think anything will top her last song, but it was still really good. I just get so annoyed with the judges – it seems like Katharine can’t win with them. But I think that she’ll make it through on the strength of her second song.

Clive Davis’s final song choice was for Taylor – “Dancing in the Dark.” (and can I interject an important question – what was Davis drinking when he chose these songs?)

It was a decent rendition, made rather strange by him doing the Courtney Cox – Bruce Springsteen dance with Paula. Randy chose “You Are So Beautiful” for Taylor’s second song, which was really a fantastic choice. He did a great job with it – he might have just stamped his ticket to the final. His final song was classic Taylor, “Try a Little Tenderness.” It was a great performance – he was really in the zone.

After last week, I’m done trying to vote (I did try to vote for Chris for a couple of hours and never got through…go figure). But I think that it will be Taylor and Katharine in the final next week. And you just know that Simon is sweating it out realizing that he quite possibly will have to market a Taylor Hicks album.