American Idol: Top 10 Performance Night

Week 3 of the American Idol finals proved that Motown is a gift -- to music lovers and singing competition contestants. Last week, I expected that "Country" would weed out the contestants more thoroughly, but as it turns out, that was "Motown's" job. The stand-outs really stood-out and those that flopped should be doing a lot of praying tonight. And then there was Lil...

1) Matt Giraud, "Let's Get It On": The opening of the song was really sexy and stripped down. The verses had power. The riffs worked. He made an iconic song his own while still honoring Marvin Gaye. Matt is the contestant who I feel is really challenging himself every week. He's opening himself up more and more every week. And it's working. Matt isn't a dark horse for the title, he's a clear contender.

2) Kris Allen, "How Sweet It Is": Kris gave a perfect mixture of Marvin Gaye, James Taylor, and Kris Allen. There were good runs, and it was sexy and original. Kris has a lot of talent, so why am I still so 'meh' about him?

3) Scott MacIntyre, "You Can't Hurry Love": When he ramped up the performance and the power, it kind of worked. When he didn't, it was bland. It was a poor song choice, and slightly on par with previous weeks. I've seen no variety, and at this point, I'm not sure that he's capable. I used to like Scott, but I'm over him now.

4) Megan Joy, "For Once In My Life": Allow me a moment to pull a Paula here. Megan looked gorgeous -- she is gorgeous. Now that that's out of the way, I can talk about how her performance was a disaster. She was too low in places and way too high in others. Her voice just can't support the power verses. And for the first time ever, she didn't feel current... at all. Smokey Robinson said that she was "part jazz, part cabaret". A good description, but this performance was much too heavy on the cabaret when jazz would have been the smarter move.

5) Anoop Desai, "Ooh Baby, Baby": Beautiful, tender, passionate, and sultry. Anoop took his voice higher than I thought was possible and it was genius. An incredibly difficult song to sing, he did it total justice while still adding a little personal flavor to the verses. Once again, Anoop proved that he has every right to be in this competition. Now, to get some of that crazy energy back...

6) Michael Sarver, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg": Michael was all over the place -- flat notes, off-key, too many runs. And any grit and passion that he tried to instill in his performance were effectively negated by the incessant smiling. You're pleading for her to stay, Michael -- smiling is not an option!

7) Lil Rounds, "Heatwave": Oh, Lil, how you disappoint me. Kimberley Locke suffered the same fate in Season 2 with this song. "Heatwave" is a fun song, but it is not the showcase song for a singer with infinite ability, great texture, and range. I know that Lil was being authentic and trying to honor those that paved the way, but she would have fared far better with Thelma Houston or Gladys Knight. Those woman know how to showcase their pipes. The end of the song was a strong point, though.

8) Adam Lambert, "Tracks of My Tears": Was that Elvis I saw? The Adam that performed tonight was not the Adam that we've come to know and love, and yet somehow his performance was so very him. He was flat-out incredible. Pure, moving, mesmerizing, and original, I'd call "Tracks of My Tears" one of the Top 10 Idol performances ever. Up there with Bo Bice's "In A Dream" and Fantasia's "Summertime".

9) Danny Gokey, "Get Ready": Fun, good, consistent... but uninspired. (Although, his nerdy dancing with the background singers was highly enjoyable.) Danny has a great voice and a lot of potential as an artist, but he seems to be in a rut. His performances are starting to run together for me, much as I love him, and he's going to need to do something so far out of left field, so surprising that I can't help but take immediate notice. I think he has that in him.

10) Allison Iraheta, "Papa was a Rolling Stone": So the rocker chick finally found her soul. Allison once again showed the raw power of her vocals, but this time she did so with a grit and a passion reserved solely for soul artists. A bit of a variation while staying true to herself. Nicely done.

*The Journey Continues: Adam, Matt, and Anoop are unequivocally safe. They can start planning their next display of brilliance.

*Pack Your Bags: Michael, Megan, and Scott should be very worried. All of them fumbled in a big way, and any one could go home. But, my money's on... Michael.

Thoughts?