Return of Adam

Rock. What a great theme for a show! I wonder why they've never tried this before?

Tonight, Adam and Allison came back with a vengeance. It's almost like it was scripted by the producers. Seriously, the theme was unfair. Rock is the strength of Adam and Allison and not suited to Danny and Kris. At this point in the competition, we should be seeing two songs apiece per performer, and letting them have free rein with song choices. Instead, we get a tilted playing field right at the time when everyone should be able to play to their strengths to let voters choose who really is the best at what they do.

Adam started off with "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin. While not the most innovative performance (it sounded like the original), it was definitely satisfying. I agree with Simon - "Nobody can top that." Adam can rock the stage. I wish they'd done two songs apiece tonight, because I bet he'd have chosen AC/DC for the second song.

Allison went next with "Cry Baby". She was definitely in her wheelhouse with this one. I loved the new hairstyle and she really owned the stage. I'm definitely sensing a fix tonight. First, the perfect theme for the favorite and the underdog - then the order placing them 1 and 2 - then the duet pairings. Tonight was totally in the Adam & Allison team's favor.

Kris follows with a hard edge version of "Come Together". This really sounded good - probably the most creative song of the night - but Kris just can't get on top of the band with his vocals. He simply lacks the power to pull it off vocally. Kris is smart, though - he tries to make up for it with the guitar, which is the skill he has that none of the rest possess, and very nearly succeeds. Randy notices it and gives him props. Good effort.

Then Danny. I feel sorry for him because he's the worst victim of tonight's theme, but not too much because he could have been clever and found a way to think around his limitations. Instead, he gambled everything he had on being able to miraculously channel Steven Tyler on "Dream On". Danny, Danny, Danny...you know you don't have the chops to go into that high register, but you had to try it anyway. It was a calculated gamble, but the final scream wasn't remotely musical and the song failed.

My rankings for tonight, same as the order of performance:
1. Adam
2. Allison
3. Kris
4. Danny

Now for the duets, which (yeah, right) aren't supposed to be subject to voting.

Danny and Kris decided to sing Foreigner's "Renegade". In my opinion, they mailed it in. OK, but not good. From the comments afterward, it seems like they had a hard time deciding on a song and didn't get much rehearsal time on it. I think both of them just decided to wing it and if it stunk, so be it. It didn't stink, but it wasn't much to write home about. Danny had enough power to get on top of the band, but Kris didn't and his vocals were too thin to impress. The lyrics of this song are too monotonal and repetitive to make it a good choice for a competition.

Adam and Allison did "Slow Ride", which has a lot of the same limitations, but they simply benefited from being able to power it out. They also fed off of each other's energy on stage and that put it over the top. They'll be good together on tour. Simon pointed out that Adam's coattails may have bought Allison a chance to stay in the competition, and I agree.

So who's going home?

My prediction:
Kris. Danny had the worst performance by far, but Allison really won a lot of fans tonight - for the second week in a row - and I think Danny wins the voting over Kris no matter what.

I still stand by my prediction that Kris sells the most albums out of this group.