Idol Worship: Best To Worst Of Disco Night

All things considered, the dreaded disco night wasn't as painful as we anticipated. For one thing, it went by pretty quickly and, with the exception of Lil Rounds' opening number, didn't really have any major stumbles. Furthermore, it showed more guts from this group of hopefuls than we've seen in some time — Adam Lambert's twist on the Saturday Night Fever classic was ambitious beyond compare, while Kris Allen's take on Donna Summer worked surprisingly well. But with two contestants' futures on the line, it's anyone's game for the rest of season 8. Sure, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta pulled off competent performances, but will good enough win American Idol? We think not. As for the rest, they rated pretty low on our excitement scale. Read on for this week's best to worst rankings... 

1. Kris Allen - "She Works Hard For The Money"
Not to get all nit-picky, but "She Works Hard For The Money" came out in 1983, which, as we see it, is at least a couple years past the end of the disco era. Nevertheless, Donna Summer is the OG disco queen, and Kris Allen is quickly becoming Idol's king of rearrangements. This acoustic guitar-driven re-tune with its Latin-flavored vibe may have catapulted Kris to the final three. It was creative, well-executed, and undoubtedly smart on a night that was sure to be challenging for him. Of all the songs performed on Tuesday, it's the one we could most see radio stations playing — and that's saying a lot in today's tight-fisted climate. 

2. Adam Lambert - "If I Can't Have You"
At this point, we know to expect the unexpected from Adam Lambert, and to that end, he didn't disappoint on disco night. In fact, Adam outdid himself yet again, taking this classic from Saturday Night Fever, to which John Travolta boogied his ass around a dingy Brooklyn dance studio, and slowing it down to a ballad. Our only problem with his reinterpretation was that we completely lost the song in the second half. And beyond being unrecognizable, the howling at the end was a bit unnecessary and over-the-top. Or, as Simon likes to say in that oh-so-sexy British accent, overindulgent. Also, with all the inexplicable Susan Boyle chatter this past week, we couldn't help but notice a Les Mis-iness to his performance. But hey, what do we know?

3. Danny Gokey - "September"
We have to hand it to Danny this week: of all the contestants, he looked like he was actually having fun, rather than trying too hard. In fact, his performance of the Earth, Wind and Fire staple looked and sounded effortless. Still, we got that cruise line sensation which never sits well with our already queasy stomach. Danny needs to keep turning it up, while toning down the cheese factor.  

4. Allison Iraheta - "Hot Stuff"
First off, Allison should get some sort of prize for navigating those slippery stage stairs wearing six-inch stripper heels. Talk about hot stuff! Now only if her performance matched the fierceness of her outfit. To us, it felt more like hot air with the occasional grunt. Like we say every week, the girl can sing, but is she Idol material? We're still not convinced.

5. Matt Giraud - "Staying Alive"
There was a time when we wanted Matt Giraud to whip out the falsetto at every opportunity, if only to show the rest of the Top 12 what a guy who's comfortable with his upper register should sound like. But now, we just want to say, "Stop it!" Because every time Matt goes high, we feel like curling up in a fetal position under our desk. But someone had to do the Bee Gees, and other than a couple of missed notes, it was a totally solid performance and one that should squeak him through to next week. At the same time, it was far from memorable. Sniff.

6. Anoop Desai - "Dim All The Lights"
Anoop Desai had the best slot of the night and, for most of his performance, delivered a strong, controlled and even tone on his Donna Summer pick (the third and last of the evening). But just as Adam had done, somewhere along the way, he lost the song. Unlike Adam, however, Anoop failed to deliver a grand finale, instead he hit a bum note. There's no doubt it'll be Matt and Anoop neck and neck for this elimination, but we're giving Matt an ever-so-slight advantage based purely on looks. Yeah, we know. We're so vain.

7. Lil Rounds - "I'm Every Woman"
The two words that best describe Lil's disco diva number? Wedding singer. The only thing missing was Lil dragging a grandma from the audience to the dance floor. And it's not like Chaka Khan was a bad choice. It could have had the let's-get-the-party-started effect she'd hoped for had it been sung well and not all over the place. It pains us to say this, because it wasn't all that long ago when we were convinced she was one of the best season 8 had to offer, but we're coming to the bottom of a downward spiral and it's time for us to part ways with Lil. Get ready for another long-winded, tearful goodbye on Wednesday night.