last night was weird for me. i don't think anyone really stood out in terms of being super-awesome. funny, how you used the phoning it in reference b/c that is exactly the way i felt about both of adam's performances last night. but i agree with you, he didn't need to do much. he is so in the final 2. (fact!)

anyways, here's my critique of the performances, starting with danny.

danny

1. dance little sister: maybe i'm just not a fan of terence trent d'arby as i've never heard this song before. i thought it was okay, but it didn't make me want to run and vote for him or anything. good, solid voice, but the performance was meh for me.

2. you are so beautiful: he definitely has the voice for a joe crocker song. HOWEVER, i would have *much* preferred if he had performed the song from "the wonder years." how come no one ever does that song? he would have won major points there, at least with me. and come on. how apropos would "with a little help from my friends" be, especially on voting night??

kris

1. apologize: not too great, in my opinion. he did hit some bad notes (i can't even believe i am agreeing with paula on this!!), and he played it very safe. i didn't hate it, but if he's fighting to be in the top 2 next week, this wasn't really the way to do it. (sorry)

2. heartless: much, much better than his first performance. i love how he takes a contemporary song and makes it even more contemporary!! i would much rather hear him sing than kanye!! :) i don't know if that was enough to save him, but it was a very valiant effort.

adam

one: it was good, but did feel a bit shouty towards the end. oh, who cares? it's u2, it's adam and he did his thing as usual.

crying: hmm... again. kinda shouty and loud. if this were the first time i was watching him perform, i would have thought, okay, what is so great about adam? but i know better. :) i just thank God he did not go with "that other aerosmith song...."

===

tonight, goodbye kris. i look forward to watching adam win american idol next week, with danny congratulating him by his side.

I went back and listened to all six songs again and I was still underwhelmed by Adam. He's great, no denying it, but I think he went overboard with the vocals. If he can just turn his voice down a notch next week, I think I'll enjoy his victory more. Less shouty Adam. More awesome Adam.

As for the other two, I think the judges' choices hurt both of them. Danny was better than Kris, but like you said, it was only okay. Kris's rendition of "Apologize" was just weak. I think it would have been interesting to see him give it his own spin on the guitar, but that might not have helped either since the song was clearly out of his vocal range.

When it came to their own selected songs, Kris was better than Danny. Danny was good and showed excellent vocal control, but I think his second song should have been energetic. That's where he excels. Kris had the element of surprise on his side because I was certain he was going to stumble, but then he came out and gave a strong performance and left the audience with a positive impression.

Still, I agree with you, tonight will be Kris's farewell. If nothing else, he'll go out with a good song.