American Idol: Top 13 Performance Night/ Results Show

I am not going to review the American Idol contestants one-by-one in this recap (I will in the future, but I'm late this time around), but I will discuss the stand-outs and the ones bringing up the rear.

And, of course, I have to discuss the new little change to the format... eight seasons in!

First off, the "Judge's Save". It's not as bad of an idea as I was expecting, but it could have its drawbacks. No matter what, this new addition does override America's vote no matter what Simon says, but thankfully, it only does it once... the entire season. It's like a collective Free Spin that has the potential to extend one person's quest for the title if America theoretically "gets it wrong". It has the potential to galvanize fans. But it also has the potential to galvanize fans to the point of sending another "wrong person" home the following week. Or... the judges might believe that their save could allow this person to take the crown when in fact that very same person might simply go home one week later. It does override America, but only to a point. And that's okay. Because America sometimes does "get it wrong".

One bone of contention, though... They used Chris Daughtry and Tamyra Gray to illustrate their points of "contestants who went home too soon", but given that the "Judge's Save" is only valid until the Top 5, the likes of Daughtry and Gray would have been ineligible for the reprieve. Just sayin'...

All I have to say about the contestants at this point is that I think it's abundantly clear that Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey are the ones to watch. They are very different performers, but they do have a few things in common. They are both unpredictable. They both own the stage. And they are both talented as hell. Lil, Alison, Matt, & Alexis are all very strong contenders, but they're not in the same league. Not by a mile. This might very well be a fun ride.

Thoughts?