Michael Becker / FOXIt was a rocky road to rock 'n' roll night on American Idol.
Before the cameras started rolling, a piece of the set collapsed and a crew member tripped on the grand staircase (the one Adam Lambert sashayed down so suavely last week), requiring a trip to the hospital to treat a severe cut to her leg.
"During rehearsal today a crew member had a mishap on set and was immediately taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure," Fox and producers FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment said in a joint statement to E! News. "We have no further information at this time."
What with the gashed limb and the trashed set, the rock vibe was established even before the first contestant opened his mouth to show what rehearsing with Slash had done for him. But when he did...
Adam Lambert: What do you know? We didn't bat an eye at Adam's take on Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" (we reserved the raised eyebrows for his outfit) because—really—what was there to wonder at? This is just how he sounds: confident, glam and polished from the sly, sexy opening note to his final, ceiling-shattering signature howl. Randy Jackson called him a rock star. Kara DioGuardi called him a rock god (and shouted "Yes!" an uncomfortable number of times). Paula Abdul called him "a whole lotta perfect." And Simon Cowell called it one of his favorite Adam performances. "Only problem is, nobody can top that now," he said.
Allison Iraheta: It's as if it was all leading up to this—Allison unleashing her inner 26-year-old on Janis Joplin's "Cry Baby." The verses didn't register as much as the heart-ripping chorus, but it was still a spot-on choice for the only girl in this Idol boys club. Randy didn't agree, however, and neither did Kara, who thought "Piece of My Heart" would have been better. Paula thought the teen is right for a Janis biopic, and Simon thought it a "terrific vocal," albeit too close to the original. And with that, Allison sprouted bell-bottoms, love beads and a fierce substance-abuse habit and was mystically transported to Haight-Ashbury circa 1969.
Duet No. 1: Two heads were better for Danny Gokey when he and Kris Allen teamed up for Styx's "Renegade," which emphasized Danny's strengths—sexy rasp, broad range—and his young partner's weaknesses—softer voice, less soul. Like the judges said, their harmonies were great, but Danny definitely overshadowed Kris in the solo department.
Kris Allen: Admittedly, Kris rocked harder than we thought him capable of on the Beatles' "Come Together"—one of the harder-rocking anthems in the Fab Four's repertoire—and we really liked the arrangement. In fact, we can see Kris doing his John-Mayer-Lite thing in tribute to a wide range of bigger artists, kinda like Mayer and Keith Urban did for Bo Diddley at this year's Grammys. Unsurprisingly, the judges came together to mainly diss the performance (although Paula's comments about his "artistic delivery" remain unclassifiable), and Simon compared it to "eating ice for lunch." Good for your figure but neither healthy nor satisfying?
Danny Gokey: Here's wondering if Danny will have better luck with the voters than Michael Johns did last year after he banged out Aerosmith's "Dream On." Danny started off as smoothly as ever, lost it a bit right before he urged the audience to sing with him, and ultimately...Well, he should have left the stage and asked Adam to hit that final high note for him instead. Randy gave it a thumbs down. Kara, musical expert that she is, said she pictured Danny doing "early Aerosmith" like "Cryin' " and "Crazy." (Um…right.) Paula ended up just surveying the audience about its love for Danny, and Simon compared that last note to "watching a horror movie."
Duet No. 2: Adam and Allison, a match made in gut-busting heaven. Problem is, neither really has a harmonic voice—especially Adam—so their version of Foghat's "Slow Ride," while perfectly suitable, was more of an "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better" exchange of feisty vocals. But their peas-in-a-pod hug at the end was pretty cute. "Perfect blend, perfect marriage—unlike us," Paula said, gesturing to the Brit sitting next to her.
Well, tonight's vote certainly means a lot, doesn't it? We're talking finale in two weeks.
America's Line oddsmaker Benjamin Eckstein downplayed Adam's greatness by thismuch this week, lowering the odds of his elimination from "never to 1" to "not-in-my-lifetime to 1." (Technically, those are different periods of time.)
Allison remains a favorite to go home at 6 to 5, while Kris is nipping at her heels at 7 to 5. Danny is a relatively crummy bet at 10 to 1, despite the damage he may have done when he killed that cat hit his last note.
Wednesday's results show will feature performances by Daughtry, the together-again No Doubt and Paula Abdul, who will be onstage with her new single, "Here for the Music."
(Originally published May 5, 2009, at 6:10 p.m. PT)