Idol Top Three: Sneak Peak!

We're down to three contestants on Season 10 of American Idol and, Wednesday night, Haley Reinhart, Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery will be gunning for the finale!  To get there, each will have to sing three different songs to earn your votes.  According to our Idol expert, Steve Thompson, one song will be chosen by mentor Jimmy Iovine, one will be selected by the contestants themselves and the third will be chosen by the judges!  I decided to dig around the internet and see if I could find some spoilers and . . .  guess what?  I FOUND SOME SPOILERS!!!

Country music has been well-represented on this season of American Idol and that trend will continue with the judges' picks!  Scotty McCreery will be singing "She Believes in Me" by Kenny Rogers.  And, Lauren Alaina will be singing Lee Ann Womack's ginormous hit "I Hope You Dance!"  I personally think those two songs are obvious and rather predictable choices and I'd be lying if I said I was quaking in my shorts waiting to hear them.  But, my fingers are crossed that Scotty and Lauren can give those songs some new flavor.

My personal FAVORITE pick for the judges' choice is the song the panel chose for Haley Reinhart!  She's going to sing Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughtta Know!"  That selection is ingenious and I have hunch Haley could ride straight into the finale if she tears into that song the way I believe she's going to.  And, remember, I'm not even really a fan of  hers!  But that song paired with that voice?  Scotty and Lauren better beware!  Yes, that song is the PERFECT choice for Haley, but the country duo better beware for another reason!

Here's the thing with American Idol.  (And I have NEVER missed an episode of ANY season, so I can say this!)  Historically, producers of the show have used their selections to advance their favorites and derail the contestants they don't want in the finale.  Case in point . . . the final three in Season Four.  The top three that year . . .  Bo Bice, Carrie Underwood and Vonzell Solomon.  Bo was the rocker Idol had never seen before.  He truly paved the way for the likes of Chris Daughtry, David Cook, Lee DeWyze and James Durbin.  Bo, at the time, was an Idol original and the judges and producers LOVED him for it.  They definitely WANTED him in the finale.  Carrie Underwood was the small town girl with mad vocal chops.  She epitomized what Idol was originally intended to be.  Idol is supposed to rip people from obscurity and make huge stars out of them.  Carrie Underwood was THAT contestant.  During her season, Simon Cowell predicted she would sell more albums than any other Idol contestant and, well, just look at her! 

Vonzell Solomon (and chances are you won't even remember her) was a better singer than Carrie.  If you go back and watch some of Carrie's clips from that season, she wasn't always comfortable and in tune.  Vonzell could lay it out and did routinely.  But, she had one fatal flaw.  Vonzell had absolutely no personality and was getting by in the competition on the strength of vocals alone.  And, you know the Idol drill, good voices don't necessarily make a good reality television program.  Idol producers knew the Bo-Carrie finale was going to be the marquee matchup and the ratings-maker, so they grabbed hold of Vonzell and threw her under the bus on Judge's Choice night when they had the chance.  With their musical selections for her, they made it IMPOSSIBLE for Vonzell to make the final.  While Carrie Underwood was tearing Roy Orbison's 'Crying" and Shania's "Man, I Feel Like a Woman" a new one, Vonzell was saddled with Dionne Warwick's "I'll Never Love This Way Again" and the Simon Cowell-selected "On The Radio" by Donna Summer.  Really?  Dionne Warwick and Donna Summer??  Poor, poor Vonzell.  The writing was on the wall and she was completely thrown under the bus with skidmarks on her face. 

I hope that tomorrow night the new Idol judges play fair.  From the song selections we know of, it seems they have.  Let's be honest.  Scotty is a throwback to Kenny Rogers' brand of country.  I'm likely not going to enjoy Scotty's performance, but that song will probably fit him like a boot.  Lauren Alaina can take "I Hope You Dance" and do something to it that Lee Ann Womack is incapable of.  And that's sing the holy crap out of it.  And "You Oughtta Know" that Haley can rip into Alanis Morrisette like a hungry grizzly bear rips into an unsuspecting camper.  I think Wednesday night is going to be a SHOWDOWN!  I have a hunch who's going to make the Idol finale, but I'm going to keep my thoughts to myself.  Quite frankly, this season is far too close to call and it looks like the judges are embracing that fact!

By the way . . . if YOU think you have what it takes to be the next American Idol and want to endure all this madness, I have found the list of audition sites for later this summer.  Here they are . . . and GOOD LUCK!!

6/28-  St. Louis, MO

7/2-  Portland, OR

7/8-  San Diego, CA  (I used to live there.  If you're going to audition, fly out there.  At least if you don't make it, the weather is beautiful!!)

7/15-  Pittsburgh, PA

7/22-  Charleston, SC

8/26-  Houston, TX