Last night’s “American Idol” results show brought us down from three finalists to two, setting up the biggest and most important showdown of the season next Tuesday. We’ll get to that….after the break…..or scroll down if you didn’t watch.

So Ryan Seacrest announced that there were 88 million votes on Tuesday night. I half-expected Seacrest to put a pinky to the corner of his mouth like Dr. Evil when he said that. Anyway, he also said that it was the closest voting ever, with 1 million votes separating the top two.

Then came a bit on Idol Gives Back, with a surprise appearance from Alicia Keys, who was there to pimp the cause, and not to perform. Instead she talked about how we can donate, and then introduced 9-year old African sensation Noah, who performed “I’m the World’s Greatest,” a song that should have been performed by Kara DioGuardi or Simon Cowell. The song itself? Kind of like “Pass the Duchie.”

Then they showed each contestant’s journey back home last week, starting with Danny Gokey’s trip to Milwaukee. Danny was reunited with his buddy Jamar, who auditioned with him and hung on up until Hollywood week. Then it was Kris Allen’s turn to go back to Conway, Arkansas, and it’s safe to say that both he and Danny were overwhelmed by the turnout and reaction back home. Their lives will never be the same, that’s for sure.

Then Season 6 champ Jordin Sparks sang her new single, “Battlefield,” which sounded like five different songs in one. And like every other post-Idol performance, it was all shouty and annoying. Then they had Adam Lambert’s return to San Diego, and dude clearly loved the attention.

Then it was Katy Perry’s turn to guest star, and she came out wearing some sort of cape with Adam Lambert’s name printed on the back. No wonder Adam said he couldn’t wait to see Katy perform. Anyway, as Mrs. Mike correctly pointed out, Katy Perry is all gimmick….she’s not awful and her songs are catchy, but watching her perform makes me hate the music industry. And that vibrato in her voice? It sounds like The B-52’s doing “Rock Lobster.”

Then it was down to business. Danny, Kris and Adam were asked to stand at the center of the stage. The first contestant to make it to the final was….Kris Allen! Yes, my boy made it! America certainly has better taste than Idol judges. Would Adam be the one going home? That was my prediction….well no, it was Adam moving on to the finals, and Danny headed home. Wow. I thought Gokey was going to win or have a chance, but this goes to show how strong the field is this season.

After having Danny sing one more time, Seacrest asked Cowell what he thought…..and he said something about Kris’ second song Tuesday (Kanye West’s “Heartless”) vaulting him into this spot, which might be somewhat true….but more so, the viewing public recognizes sheer talent and artistry and they wanted Kris in there. The judges also got their wish of having Adam in the finale, though based on Tuesday’s performances, he didn’t deserve it. That’s Idol though.

And here’s something nobody is talking about….well, until now. One million votes separated Adam and Kris…so for as good as these judges think Adam is and for as lousy as they (mostly Simon) have thought Kris to be, it’s not a slam dunk for Adam by any means. Cowell even admitted that next week is set up to be a “big ding dong,” which I think is the British way of saying epic matchup.

This is going to be a match between two extremely different performers…the showy, screechy, overrated, tongue-in-the-camera’s face Adam Lambert, and the laid back, underrated, slay-em-with-your-arrangement country boy Kris Allen. I’m betting that the votes next week are even closer than this week, and I’m saying it right here, right now….Kris is going to win, and it will send Kara and Paula directly to their respective shrinks.

What do you all think?